Hekate Rose's Personal Name List

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

Originally a short form of Germanic names such as Adelaide or Adelina that begin with the element adal meaning "noble". Saint Ada was a 7th-century Frankish abbess at Le Mans. This name was also borne by Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), the Countess of Lovelace (known as Ada Lovelace), a daughter of Lord Byron. She was an assistant to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early mechanical computer.

Means "noble" in Hebrew.

Originally a short form of names beginning with the Old German element adal meaning "noble" (Proto-Germanic *aþalaz). Saint Adela was a 7th-century Frankish princess who founded a monastery at Pfazel in France. This name was also borne by a daughter of William the Conqueror.

French form of Adelaide.

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 Hebrew name עֲדִינָא (ʿAḏina), derived from עָדִין (ʿaḏin) meaning "delicate". This name is borne by a soldier in the Old Testament.

The feminine name Adina 3 is from the same root, but is spelled differently in Hebrew.

Feminine form of Adonis

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

To drive, propel.

From Japanese 昭 (akira) meaning "bright", 明 (akira) meaning "bright" or 亮 (akira) meaning "clear". Other kanji with the same pronunciation can also form this name. A famous bearer was the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), given name written 明.

Means "light" or "white" in Turkmen, from ak meaning "white".

Anglicized form of Ala ad-Din. This is the name of a mischievous boy in one of the tales of The 1001 Nights. A magician traps him in a cave, but he escapes with the help of a genie.

Variant of Alaina.

The meaning of this name is not known for certain. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries.

This was the name of several dukes of Brittany, and Breton settlers introduced it to England after the Norman Conquest. Famous modern bearers include Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the first American in space and the fifth man to walk on the moon, and Alan Turing (1912-1954), a British mathematician and computer scientist.

Feminine form of Alan. Canadian musician Alanis Morissette (1974-) was named after her father Alan. Her parents apparently decided to use this particular spelling after seeing this word in a Greek newspaper.

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.

Form of Alexander in several languages.

Russian and Armenian form of Alexander. This name was borne by the Russian writer Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837).

Italian form of Alexandra.

Feminine form of Alexander. In Greek mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess Hera, and an alternate name of Cassandra. It was borne by several early Christian saints, and also by the wife of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name Alix, but was renamed Александра (Aleksandra) upon joining the Russian Church.

Variant of Alexana.

From the Greek name Ἄλεξις (Alexis) meaning "helper" or "defender", derived from Greek ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, to help". This was the name of a 3rd-century BC Greek comic poet, and also of several saints. It is used somewhat interchangeably with the related name Ἀλέξιος or Alexius, borne by five Byzantine emperors.

In the English-speaking world this name is more commonly given to girls. This is due to the American actress Alexis Smith (1921-1993), who began appearing in movies in the early 1940s. It got a boost in popularity in the 1980s from a character on the soap opera Dynasty.

Belarusian form of Alexius.

Recorded in 15th-century French-speaking Switzerland. It might be a Latinization of Alix.

Means "joyful" in Hebrew.

From the Greek name Ἀλθαία (Althaia), perhaps related to Greek ἄλθος (althos) meaning "healing". In Greek myth she was the mother of Meleager. Soon after her son was born she was told that he would die as soon as a piece of wood that was burning on her fire was fully consumed. She immediately extinguished the piece of wood and sealed it in a chest, but in a fit of rage many years later she took it out and set it alight, thereby killing her son.

Variant of Alicia.

Variant of Alicia. The spelling has probably been influenced by that of the alyssum flower, the name of which is derived from Greek ἀ (a), a negative prefix, combined with λύσσα (lyssa) meaning "madness, rabies", since it was believed to cure madness.

Means "born on Saturday" in Akan.

Means "the end" in Basque. This is the name of a character in the historical novel Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century (1879) by Francisco Navarro-Villoslada (Amaya in the Spanish original; Amaia in the Basque translation).

Short form of Germanic names beginning with the element amal. This element means "unceasing, vigorous, brave", or it can refer to the Gothic dynasty of the Amali (derived from the same root).

This was another name for the 7th-century saint Amalberga of Maubeuge.

In part this is a feminine form of Amandus. However, it was not used during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century it was recreated by authors and poets who based it directly on Latin amanda meaning "lovable, worthy of love". Notably, the playwright Colley Cibber used it for a character in his play Love's Last Shift (1696). It came into regular use during the 19th century.

From the English word amber that denotes either the gemstone, which is formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour. The word ultimately derives from Arabic عنبر (ʿanbar) meaning "ambergris". It began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, but it only became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor's novel Forever Amber (1944).

From Japanese 雨 "rain" or 飴 "candy".

Alternate transcription of Arabic آمال (see Aamaal) chiefly used in North Africa.

Portuguese form of Annabel.

Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of Anne 1 or Agnès. It was used in Jean-Henri Guy's opera Anacréon chez Polycrate (1798), where it is borne by the daughter (otherwise unnamed in history) of the 6th-century BC tyrant Polycrates of Samos. Guy could have adapted it from a classical name such as Anaitis or Athénaïs.

A famous bearer was the Cuban-French writer Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), known for her diaries.

Variant of Anaïs.

Combination of Ana and Sofía.

Feminine form of Andreas (Greek) or Andrey (Bulgarian).

Derived from Greek ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός) combined with one of the related words μέδομαι (medomai) meaning "to be mindful of, to provide for, to think on" or μέδω (medo) meaning "to protect, to rule over". In Greek mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.

Dutch form of Angélique.

Diminutive of Angela. The 1973 Rolling Stones song Angie caused this name to jump in popularity.

Form of Anya in several languages.

Form of Hannah used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the Hannah spelling instead of Anna. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary.

In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.

The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.

Combination of Anna and Liisa.

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.

Danish form of Anneliese.

Combination of Anne 1 and Maria.

Combination of Anne 1 and Marie.

Combination of Anne 1 and the Old Swedish name element vī "temple, sanctuary" (ultimately from the Old Norse name element vé "home; temple, sanctuary; devoted, dedicated").

Swedish diminutive of Anna.

From Japanese 葵 (aoi) meaning "hollyhock, althea" or an adjectival form of 碧 (ao) meaning "green, blue". Other kanji with the same reading can form this name as well.

A Greek goddess of vengence and destruction, the personification of curses. Her name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀρά (ara) meaning "prayer, vow; curse".

French form of Arabella.

Bengali and Odia variant of Aravind.

The name of the star the star Betelgeuse (α Ori) in Hinduism, meaning "green" or "the moist one". It is associated with Rudra, the god of wind, storms, the hunt, destruction and terror.

Portuguese form of Ariadne. This name steadily grew in popularity in America in the last few decades of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the American pop singer Ariana Grande (1993-).

French feminine form of Ariel, as well as an English variant.

Means "ram" in Latin. This is the name of a constellation and the first sign of the zodiac. Some Roman legends state that the ram in the constellation was the one who supplied the Golden Fleece sought by Jason.

Polish diminutive of Joanna.

Possibly from Arabic أسي (ʾasiya) meaning "to be distressed, to be grieved" [1]. According to Islamic tradition this was the name of the wife of the pharaoh at the time of Moses. She took care of the infant Moses and later accepted monotheism.

Modern Scandinavian form of Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.

From the Greek Ἀταλάντη (Atalante) meaning "equal in weight", derived from ἀτάλαντος (atalantos), a word related to τάλαντον (talanton) meaning "a scale, a balance". In Greek legend she was a fast-footed maiden who refused to marry anyone who could not beat her in a race. She was eventually defeated by Hippomenes, who dropped three golden apples during the race causing her to stop to pick them up.

Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.

The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.

Medieval diminutive of Æðelþryð. This was the name of a 7th-century saint, a princess of East Anglia who founded a monastery at Ely. It was also used by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy As You Like It (1599). At the end of the Middle Ages the name became rare due to association with the word tawdry (which was derived from St. Audrey, the name of a fair where cheap lace was sold), but it was revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

From the word aura (derived from Latin, ultimately from Greek αὔρα meaning "breeze") for a distinctive atmosphere or illumination.

Means "voice, sound" in Persian.

Feminine form of 'Avi'el.

Variant of Aviela.

Feminine variant of Aviv.

Biblical Hebrew form of Abijah.

French form of April. A famous bearer is the Canadian musician Avril Lavigne (1984-).

Russian and Ukrainian form of Aurora.

From Japanese 彩 (aya) meaning "colour", 綾 (aya) meaning "design", or other kanji characters with the same pronunciation.

Means "doe, female deer" in Hebrew.

Variant of Asia 1.

From the name of the flower (shrubs of the genus Rhododendron), ultimately derived from Greek ἀζαλέος (azaleos) meaning "dry".

Elaboration of Azure.

Hebrew form of Bathsheba.

Short form of Beatrix or Beáta.

Italian cognate of Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603).

Means "birch tree" in Icelandic.

From the name of a borough of New York City, originally named after the Dutch town of Breukelen, itself meaning either "broken land" (from Dutch breuk) or "marsh land" (from Dutch broek). It can also be viewed as a combination of Brook and the popular name suffix lyn. It is considered a feminine name in the United States, but is more common as a masculine name in the United Kingdom.

German form of Cecilia.

Feminine form of Calpurnius. This was the name of Julius Caesar's last wife.

Derived from Irish caomh meaning "dear, beloved, gentle".

A famous bearer is pop artist Cardi B (born in 1992 as Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) who got her stage name from Bacardi, a white rum. The nickname was given to her because her sister's name is Hennessy which is a brand of cognac.

Variant Cattie. This is the name of a fictional character in the Daughters of the Moon book series by Lynne Ewing.

Italian feminine and masculine form of Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.

English short form of Michaela, or a variant of Kayla.

From a French surname that meant either "channel", indicating a person who lived near a channel of water, or "jug, jar, bottle", indicating a manufacturer of jugs. It has been used as an American given name since 1970s, influenced by the Chanel brand name (a line of women's clothing and perfume), which was named for French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).

Biblical Hebrew form of Hannah.

Means "happiness, joy" in Greek.

Swedish variant of Charlotte.

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.

Modern Hebrew form of Eve.

Derived from Hebrew חָיָה (ḥaya) meaning "living", considered a feminine form of Chaim.

Transferred use of the surname Cheslin.

Derived from the Lakota word šahiyena meaning "red speakers". This is the name of a Native American people of the Great Plains. The name was supposedly given to the Cheyenne by the Lakota because their language was unrelated to their own. As a given name, it has been in use since the 1950s.

French form of Chloe.

French form of Christina, as well as a variant in other languages. It was used by the French author Gaston Leroux for the heroine, Christine Daaé, in his novel The Phantom of the Opera (1910).

This was a popular name in the 20th century (especially the middle decades) in French, German, and English-speaking countries. In the United States Christina has been more common since 1973, though both forms are currently floundering on the charts.

Variant of Sierra. Use of the name has perhaps been influenced by the brand of perfume called Ciara, which was introduced by Revlon in 1973 [1].

From the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning "glory of the father", derived from κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.

Possibly an elaboration of Cleo or Clara.

Medieval form of Constantia. The Normans introduced this name to England (it was the name of a daughter of William the Conqueror).

Derived from Hungarian csillag meaning "star". This name was created by the Hungarian author András Dugonics for an 1803 novel and later used and popularized by the poet Mihály Vörösmarty.

Feminine form of Daniel.

Derived from Sanskrit दया (dayā) meaning "compassion, mercy".

Latinized form of Deianeira.

Elaboration of Delaney, probably influenced by Alaina.

Means "judged" in Hebrew, derived from דִּין (din) meaning "to judge". According to the Old Testament, Dinah was a daughter of Jacob and Leah who was abducted by Shechem. It has been used as an English given name since after the Protestant Reformation.

Variant of Juna.

Diminutive of Dorothy.

Polish form of Edith.

Means "soft, tender" in Burmese.

Possibly derived from Greek ἄλαρα (alara) meaning "hazelnut, spear-shaft". In Greek mythology Elara was one of Zeus's mortal lovers and by him the mother of the giant Tityos. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.

German and Dutch form of Elizabeth. It is also a variant English form, reflecting the spelling used in the Authorized Version of the New Testament.

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Elizabeth.

Hebrew form of Elizabeth.

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).

From Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (ʾElishevaʿ) meaning "my God is an oath", derived from the roots אֵל (ʾel) referring to the Hebrew God and שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist.

Among Christians, this name was originally more common in Eastern Europe. It was borne in the 12th century by Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a daughter of King Andrew II who used her wealth to help the poor. In medieval England it was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the form Isabel (from Occitan and Spanish) was more common. It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. In American name statistics (as recorded since 1880) it has never ranked lower than 30, making it the most consistently popular name for girls in the United States.

Besides Elizabeth I, this name has been borne (in various spellings) by many other European royals, including a ruling empress of Russia in the 18th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).

Short form of names beginning with El, such as Eliisabet. It could also be from Estonian elu meaning "life".

Means "elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.

Short form of Elisabeth, used independently.

Variant of Alvina.

Meaning unknown. It could possibly be a derivative of Alvis or Elwin. More likely, it is from the rare surname Elvis, a variant of Elwes, which is ultimately derived from the given name Eloise. The name was brought to public attention by the singer Elvis Presley (1935-1977), whose name came from his father's middle name.

This name is also used as an Anglicized form of Irish Ailbhe.

Variant of Eliana 1.

From Elysium, the name of the realm of the dead in Greek and Roman mythology.

Form of Emma used in various languages.

Meaning uncertain, perhaps related to Old Norse almr "elm". In Norse mythology Embla and her husband Ask were the first humans. They were created by three of the gods from two trees.

Feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily).

Middle English vernacular form of Emma. In modern times it is used as a variant of Em or Emmy, and is often said to be a short form of Emmeline. This is the name of the only daughter of American actress and singer Jennifer Lopez born in 2008 (in whose case it is pronounced as two syllables).

The name of Noah's wife, a daughter of Rake'el (his father's brother), according to Jubilees 4:33 of the Old Testament Apocrypha.

Anglicized form of Éireann. It was initially used by people of Irish heritage in America, Canada and Australia. It was rare until the mid-1950s.

Hungarian form of Elizabeth. This is the native name of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. It was also borne by the infamous Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614), a countess and alleged murderer.

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

Form of Esther used in several languages.

From the Hebrew name אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means "star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was Hadassah.

This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].

Derived from Greek εὔλαλος (eulalos) meaning "sweetly-speaking", itself from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and λαλέω (laleo) meaning "to talk". This was the name of an early 4th-century saint and martyr from Mérida in Spain. Another martyr by this name, living at the same time, is a patron saint of Barcelona. These two saints might be the same person.

Hungarian form of Eve.

Form of Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the New Testament, while Hava is used in the Latin Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.

This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).

Variant of Evelyn.

Variant of Evelyn.

Feminine form of Evangelos.

Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

From an English surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English eofor "boar" and leah "woodland, clearing". Notable bearers of the surname were the musical duo the Everly Brothers, Don (1937-2021) and Phil (1939-2014).

This name began rising on the American popularity charts in 2008, slowly until 2012 and then rapidly after that. This might have been triggered by the folk band Everly (not associated with the Everly Brothers), which had music featured on the television series One Tree Hill in that period. It also might have simply been inspired by similar-sounding names like Everett, Evelyn and Beverly.

Diminutive of Eva or Evelina.

Variant of Fay.

Feminine form of Fathi.

Alternate transcription of Urdu فوزیہ (see Fawzia), as well as a Bengali variant.

Means "phoenix" in Chinese.

Means "proud" in Esperanto.

From Japanese 風 (fu) meaning "wind" combined with 花 (ka) or 華 (ka) which both mean "flower". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Famous bearers are Japanese child actress Fūka Haruna and Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and model Fuka Kakimoto.

Means "birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of Adam and Eve, Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.

Italian form of Iohanna (see Joanna), making it the feminine form of Giovanni.

Italian form of Giselle.

Feminine form of Giuliano.

Feminine form of Giuseppe.

Feminine form of Gwenaël.

Variant of Hayley.

Medieval diminutive of Harry. In Shakespeare's two historical plays about Henry IV, Prince Hal is the name of the future King Henry V.

From Old English, meaning "from Hal's island". The name is probably given in honour of the American war hero Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, Jr. (1882-1959).

Means "bliss, happiness" in Arabic, from the root هنأ (hanaʾa) meaning "to gladden, to enjoy".

From Japanese 花 (hana) or 華 (hana) both meaning "flower". Other kanji or kanji combinations can form this name as well.

Form of Ḥanna (see Hannah) in several languages.

Finnish diminutive of Johanna or Hannah.

From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English hara "hare" or hær "rock, heap of stones" and leah "woodland, clearing". An American name for boys since the 19th century, it began to be used for girls after a character with the name began appearing on the soap opera Guiding Light in 1987.

Means "beautiful snow" from Hawaiian hau "snow" and nani "beauty, glory".

From an English surname that was originally derived from the name of an English town (meaning "hay clearing" from Old English heg "hay" and leah "clearing"). It was brought to public attention as a given name, especially in the United Kingdom, by the British child actress Hayley Mills (1946-) [1].

This is the most common spelling of this name in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand; in the United States the spellings Haley and Hailey are more popular.

From Chinese 河 (hé) meaning "river, stream", 和 (hé) meaning "harmony, peace", or 荷 (hé) meaning "lotus, water lily" (which is usually only feminine). Other characters can form this name as well. A famous bearer was the Ming dynasty explorer Zheng He (1371-1433).

Diminutive of Hedwig.

In Norse mythology this was the name of the daughter of Loki. She got her name from the underworld, also called Hel, where she ruled, which meant "to conceal, to cover" in Old Norse (related to the English word hell).

Short form of Helena as well as a derivation from Estonian hele ''bright, clear, light''.

English form of the Greek Ἑλένη (Helene), probably from Greek ἑλένη (helene) meaning "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σελήνη (selene) meaning "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.

The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.

Latinate form of Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well (1603).

Means "gentle, tender" in Finnish.

Danish diminutive of names beginning with Hel, such as Helga or Helena.

Finnish feminine form of Heinrich (see Henry).

Finnish feminine form of Heinrich (see Henry).

Yiddish variant of Hannah.

Latinized form of Herakles. However, the spelling used by the Romans was Hercules.

Derived from the name of the Greek messenger god Hermes. In Greek myth Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. This is also the name of the wife of Leontes in Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale (1610). It is now closely associated with the character Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Diminutive of Hentshe.

Meaning uncertain, of Iroquois origin, possibly meaning "he who combs". This was the name of a Mohawk or Onondaga leader who founded the Iroquois Confederacy around the 15th century. He was later the subject of a fictionalized 1855 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Means "gift" in Arabic, a derivative of وهب (wahaba) meaning "to give".

Derived from Hebrew הָלַל (halal) meaning "praise". This name is mentioned briefly in the Old Testament as the father of the judge Abdon. It was also borne by the 1st-century BC Jewish scholar Hillel the Elder.

Means "pretty, favourable" in Burmese.

Means "pig" in Vietnamese. This name is given in the year of the pig.

From Japanese 蛍 (hotaru) meaning "firefly".

English form of Hyacinthus.

From the name of the flower (or the precious stone that also bears this name), ultimately from Greek hyakinthos (see Hyacinthus).

German and Dutch diminutive of Elisabeth, used independently.

Means "faith" in Arabic, derived from أمن (ʾamuna) meaning "to be faithful". It is typically feminine in Arabic and masculine in Persian.

Variant of Imogen.

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.

Means "beauty" in Sanskrit. This is another name of Lakshmi, the wife of the Hindu god Vishnu. A notable bearer was India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).

From the Old Norse name Ingríðr meaning "Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god Ing combined with fríðr "beautiful, beloved". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).

Short form of Irina.

Short form of Isabella.

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).

Latinate form of Isabel.

Variant of Isidora. A famous bearer was the American dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).

Greek form of Egyptian ꜣst (reconstructed as Iset, Aset or Ueset), possibly from st meaning "throne". In Egyptian mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.

Variant of Isabella.

Means "willow tree" in South Slavic.

Feminine form of Ivo 1.

Feminine form of Ivan.

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

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.

Diminutive of Jadwiga.

From Persian جهان (jahān) meaning "world" and آرا (ārā) meaning "decorate, adorn". This was the name of the eldest daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

Form of Jacob (or James) used in several languages.

Originally a Lowland Scots diminutive of James. Since the late 19th century it has also been used as a feminine form.

An invented name, blending the popular phonetic prefix ja with names like Shania and Aaliyah.

From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian یاسمین (yāsamīn), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans [1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.

Hungarian form of Jasmine.

Diminutive of Jazmine/Jasmine or Jazper/Jasper, or possibly given in reference to "jazz", the genre of music, or the English word jazz meaning "energy, excitement, excitability; very lively; of excellent quality, the genuine article".

Short form of Jesse or Jessica.

From Chinese 江 (jiāng) meaning "river, Yangtze", as well as other characters with a similar pronunciation.

Variant of Gillian.

From Chinese 静 (jìng) meaning "quiet, still, gentle", 精 (jīng) meaning "essence, spirit", 晶 (jīng) meaning "clear, crystal" or 京 (jīng) meaning "capital city". Other characters can also form this name.

Portuguese and Catalan form of Iohanna (see Joanna).

From a Frankish masculine name, variously written as Gaudelenus, Gautselin, Gauzlin, along with many other spellings. It was derived from the Germanic element *gautaz, which was from the name of the Germanic tribe the Geats, combined with a Latin diminutive suffix. The Normans brought this name to England in the form Goscelin or Joscelin, and it was common until the 14th century. It was revived in the 20th century primarily as a feminine name, perhaps an adaptation of the surname Jocelyn (a medieval derivative of the given name). In France this is a masculine name only.

Latinate form of Greek Ioanna (see Joanna).

From the Hebrew name יְהוֹנָתָן (Yehonaṯan), contracted to יוֹנָתָן (Yonaṯan), meaning "Yahweh has given", derived from the roots יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and נָתַן (naṯan) meaning "to give". According to the Old Testament, Jonathan was the eldest son of Saul. His relationship with his father was strained due to his close friendship with his father's rival David. Along with Saul he was killed in battle with the Philistines.

As an English name, Jonathan did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was the Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), who wrote Gulliver's Travels and other works.

From the name of the river that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן (Yarḏen), and it is derived from יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend, flow down". In the New Testament John the Baptist baptizes Jesus Christ in its waters, and it was adopted as a personal name in Europe after crusaders brought water back from the river to baptize their children. There may have been some influence from the Latin name Jordanes, notably borne by a 6th-century Gothic historian.

This name died out after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century. In America and other countries it became fairly popular in the second half of the 20th century. A famous bearer of the surname is former basketball star Michael Jordan (1963-).

Feminine variant of Jordan.

From the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshuaʿ) meaning "Yahweh is salvation", from the roots יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save". As told in the Old Testament, Joshua was a companion of Moses. He went up Mount Sinai with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments from God, and later he was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan. After Moses died Joshua succeeded him as leader of the Israelites and he led the conquest of Canaan. His original name was Hoshea.

The name Jesus comes from a Greek transcription of the Aramaic short form יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshuaʿ), which was the real name of Jesus. As an English name, Joshua has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.

Croatian form of Joséphine.

French, Danish, Norwegian and Czech form of Julia. It has spread to many other regions as well. It has been common in the English-speaking world since the early 20th century.

Meaning unknown, possibly related to an Indo-European root meaning "young", or possibly of Etruscan origin. In Roman mythology Juno was the wife of Jupiter and the queen of the heavens. She was the protectress of marriage and women, and was also the goddess of finance.

Danish and Norwegian form of Käthe.

Old Swedish masculine and feminine form of Kætillaug.

Means "the sacred sky," "the sacred heaven," "the sacred, heavenly one" or "the royal, sacred one," from definite article ka, ʻiu meaning "lofty, sacred, revered, consecrated" and lani meaning "sky, heaven, heavenly, spiritual, royal, exalted, noble, aristocratic."

One bearer of this name was Victoria Kaʻiulani (1875-1899), Crown Princess of the Hawaiian Islands.

Russian and Hungarian form of Camilla, as well as a Polish and Scandinavian variant. This is also the Hungarian word for the chamomile flower (species Matricaria chamomilla).

Variant of Cara.

Finnish and Estonian form of Katherine.

Form of Katya in various languages.

Belarusian form of Katherine.

Short form of Katherine and other names beginning with K.

Combination of the popular phonetic elements kay and la. Use of the name greatly increased after 1982 when the character Kayla Brady began appearing on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives [1].

Feminine form of Ken 1 or Kendrick.

Derived from Arabic كَنْز (kanz) meaning "treasure".

Feminine variant of Kerry.

Variant of Chloe. This particular variant was popularized by the television personality Khloé Kardashian (1984-) after she began appearing with her family on the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2007.

Obsolete Swedish dialectal variant form of Kätilög and female form of Kjell.

Danish and Norwegian form of Christina.

Alternate transcription of Ancient Greek Κόρη (see Kore).

Short form of Kristian, Kristoffer and other names beginning with Kris.

Derived from Sanskrit कृष्ण (kṛṣṇa) meaning "black, dark". This is the name of a Hindu deity believed to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu. According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas he was the youngest of King Vasudeva's eight sons by Devaki, six of whom were killed by King Kamsa because of a prophecy that a child of Vasudeva would kill Kamsa. However, Krishna and his brother Balarama were saved and he eventually fulfilled the prophecy by slaying the evil king. He then helped the Pandavas defeat the Kauravas in the Mahabharata War. His philosophical conversation with the Pandava leader Arjuna forms the text of the important Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita.

In some Hindu traditions, Krishna is regarded as the supreme deity. He is usually depicted with blue skin. He is also known by many epithets, such as Govinda, Gopala, and the patronymic Vasūdeva.

Form of Christina in several languages. It is also an English variant of Christina and a Bulgarian variant of Hristina.

Variant of Kim 1.

From Japanese 協 (kyou) meaning "unite, cooperate", 京 (kyou) meaning "capital city", 郷 (kyou) meaning "village", 杏 (kyou) meaning "apricot" combined with 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" or 加 (ka) meaning "increase". Other kanji combinations are also possible.

Variant of Kira 2, sometimes considered a feminine form of Cyrus.

Lai is an Estonian surname meaning "wide", "vast" and "spacious".

Variant of Layla.

Means "sign, mark" in Sanskrit. This is the name of the Hindu goddess of prosperity, good luck, and beauty. She is the wife of Vishnu and her symbol is the lotus flower, with which she is often depicted.

Combination of the popular prefix la with the name Rae, possibly influenced by Lorraine.

Variant or feminine form of Laurence 1. Originally a masculine name, it was first popularized as a feminine name by actress Betty Jean Perske (1924-2014), who used Lauren Bacall as her stage name.

From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.

Variant of Lavinia.

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.

A Hebrew name meaning incense. Form of Levana 1.

From Chinese 理 (lǐ) meaning "reason, logic", 立 (lì) meaning "stand, establish", 黎 (lí) meaning "black, dawn", 力 (lì) meaning "power, capability, influence" (which is usually only masculine) or 丽 (lì) meaning "beautiful" (usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters are also possible.

Dutch form of Elizabeth.

Short form of Liselotte.

From Sino-Vietnamese 靈 (linh) meaning "spirit, soul".

Old German form of Linda.

Strictly feminine form of Lior.

Lithuanian feminine form of Ludwig.

Short form of Olivia.

Short form of Olivia.

Short form of Elizabeth (English), Yelizaveta (Russian), Elisavet (Greek) or Elisabed (Georgian).

Swedish and Danish form of Lissa and English variant of Lizzie.

From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Ayrshire meaning "little hollow" (from Gaelic lag "hollow, pit" combined with a diminutive suffix). This name started slowly rising on the American popularity charts in the mid-1970s, perhaps partly inspired by the movie Logan's Run (1976). The comic book character Wolverine, alias Logan, was also introduced around the same time.

The name has been very common throughout the English-speaking world since end of the 20th century. In the United States it reached a high point in 2017, when it ranked as the fifth most popular name for boys.

From German Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.

In the English-speaking world this name has been occasionally given since the early 20th century. It started rising in America after the variant Lorelai was used for the main character (and her daughter, nicknamed Rory) on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007).

One of Princess Kaiulani's (the people's princess) names.

Variant of Leila.

Variant of Linda.

From an English surname that was derived from Welsh llyn meaning "lake". Before the start of the 20th century it was primarily used for boys, but it has since come to be more common for girls. In some cases it may be thought of as a short form of Linda or names that end in lyn or line.

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).

Diminutive of Maarja (Estonian) or Maaria (Finnish).

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).

Diminutive of Madeline or Madison.

Variant of Madeline.

Means "welcome" in Tahitian. It gained popularity in France during the 1980s.

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.

Latinate form of Magdalene.

From a title meaning "of Magdala". Mary Magdalene, a character in the New Testament, was named thus because she was from Magdala — a village on the Sea of Galilee whose name meant "tower" in Hebrew. She was cleaned of evil spirits by Jesus and then remained with him during his ministry, witnessing the crucifixion and the resurrection. She was a popular saint in the Middle Ages, and the name became common then. In England it is traditionally rendered Madeline, while Magdalene or Magdalen is the learned form.

Late Latin name meaning "great". It was borne by a 7th-century saint who was a missionary in Germany. It became popular in Scandinavia after the time of the 11th-century Norwegian king Magnus I, who was said to have been named after Charlemagne, or Carolus Magnus in Latin (however there was also a Norse name Magni). The name was borne by six subsequent kings of Norway as well as three kings of Sweden. It was imported to Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages.

From Greek μαῖα (maia) meaning "good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Her son by Zeus was Hermes.

Polish form of Margaret.

From the word referring to a supernatural, religious or divine power.

From Japanese 真 (ma) "true", 舞 (ma) "dance", 麻 (ma) "flax" or 満 (ma) "full" combined with 菜 (na) "vegetables, greens" or 奈 (na), a phonetic character.

Combination of the names Mary and Elizabeth

Derived from Latin Margarita, which was from Greek μαργαρίτης (margarites) meaning "pearl", a word that was probably ultimately a borrowing from an Indo-Iranian language. Saint Margaret, the patron of expectant mothers, was martyred at Antioch in the 4th century. Later legends told of her escape from a dragon, with which she was often depicted in medieval art. The saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and her name has been widely used in the Christian world.

As an English name it has been very popular since the Middle Ages. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, but it declined in the latter half of the 20th century.

Other saints by this name include a queen of Scotland and a princess of Hungary. It was also borne by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the 14th century. Famous literary bearers include American writer Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949), the author of Gone with the Wind, and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood (1939-). Others include American anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013).

Combination of Marie and Christine.

Form of Maria in several languages.

Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of Maria, as well as an alternate transcription of Belarusian Марыя (see Maryia).

Swedish phonetic spelling of Mary.

Belarusian form of Maria.

Anglicized form of Máirín.

Derived from the name of the month of May, which derives from Maia, the name of a Roman goddess. May is also another name of the hawthorn flower. It is also used as a diminutive of Mary, Margaret or Mabel.

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.

Short form of Melvin, Melanie, Melissa and other names beginning with Mel.

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).

Means "sea" in Finnish.

Diminutive of Maria.

In Portuguese often used to form diminutives of composed names, as in Milú or Mitó.

From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Miḵaʾel) meaning "who is like God?", derived from the interrogative pronoun מִי (mi) combined with ךְּ (ke) meaning "like" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Michael is one of the archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament he is named as a protector of Israel (see Daniel 12:1). In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies in the war against Satan, and is thus considered the patron saint of soldiers in Christianity.

The popularity of the saint led to the name being used by nine Byzantine emperors, including Michael VIII Palaeologus who restored the empire in the 13th century. It has been common in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and in England since the 12th century. It has been borne (in various spellings) by rulers of Russia (spelled Михаил), Romania (Mihai), Poland (Michał), and Portugal (Miguel).

In the United States, this name rapidly gained popularity beginning in the 1930s, eventually becoming the most popular male name from 1954 to 1998. However, it was not as overwhelmingly common in the United Kingdom, where it never reached the top spot.

Famous bearers of this name include the British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), musician Michael Jackson (1958-2009), and basketball player Michael Jordan (1963-).

French feminine form of Michel. It has been common in the English-speaking world since the middle of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the former American first lady Michelle Obama (1964-).

Derived from Latin mirabilis meaning "wonderful". This name was coined during the Middle Ages, though it eventually died out. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.

Form of Mary used in the Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of Moses and Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside Mary) since the Protestant Reformation.

From Japanese 宮 (miya) meaning "Shinto shrine, constellations, palace, princess", 京 (miya) meaning "capital", 実 (mi) meaning "to bear fruit", 都 (miya) meaning "metropolis, capital, all, everything" or 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful", 弥 (ya) meaning "all the more, increasingly", 也 (ya) meaning "also", 夜 (ya) meaning "night", 矢 (ya) meaning "dart, arrow" or 耶 (ya), an interjection combined with 野 (no) meaning "area, field" or 乃 (no), a possessive particle. Other combinations of kanji characters can also form this name.

Means "ocean, wide expanse of water, deep sea" in Maori, Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages.

Form of Monica used in various languages.

French form of Monica.

Modern form of Morgen, which was used by Geoffrey of Monmouth [1] in the 12th century for the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, who was unnamed in earlier stories. Geoffrey probably did not derive it from the Welsh masculine name Morgan, which would have been spelled Morcant in his time. It is likely from Old Welsh mor "sea" and the suffix gen "born of" [2].

From Hebrew מֹרִיָה (Moriya) possibly meaning "seen by Yahweh". This is a place name in the Old Testament, both the land where Abraham is to sacrifice Isaac and the mountain upon which Solomon builds the temple. They may be the same place. Since the 1980s it has occasionally been used as a feminine given name in America.

Swedish diminutive of Maria.

From Sino-Korean 明 (myeong) meaning "bright, light, clear" combined with 淑 (suk) meaning "good, pure, virtuous, charming". Other hanja combinations are possible.

Simply from the English word myrtle for the evergreen shrub, ultimately from Greek μύρτος (myrtos). It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.

Means "pleasant" in Hebrew. This name is borne in the Old Testament by both a daughter of Lamech and a wife of Solomon. Some later Jewish texts give Naamah as the name of Noah's wife, even though she is not named in the Old Testament.