The Imperatrix's Personal Name List
Aeneas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ie-NEH-as(Latin) i-NEE-əs(English)
Latin form of the Greek name
Αἰνείας (Aineias), derived from Greek
αἴνη (aine) meaning
"praise". In Greek legend he was a son of
Aphrodite and was one of the chief heroes who defended Troy from the Greeks. The Roman poet
Virgil continued his story in the
Aeneid, in which Aeneas travels to Italy and founds the Roman state.
Aeolus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἴολος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-ə-ləs(English) ee-O-ləs(English)
Aetius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman
cognomen that was probably derived from Greek
ἀετός (aetos) meaning
"eagle". A famous bearer was the 5th-century Roman general Flavius Aetius, who defeated
Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons.
Aglaea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀγλαΐα(Ancient Greek)
Alcyone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλκυόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-SIE-ə-nee(English)
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.
Altair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Astronomy, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Pronounced: al-TEHR(English)
Means "the flyer" in Arabic. This is the name of a star in the constellation Aquila.
Amadeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: ahm-ə-DAY-əs(English) ahm-ə-DEE-əs(English)
Means
"love of God", derived from Latin
amare "to love" and
Deus "God". A famous bearer was the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), who was actually born Wolfgang
Theophilus Mozart but preferred the Latin translation of his Greek middle name. This name was also assumed as a middle name by the German novelist E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who took it in honour of Mozart.
Amphitrite
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀμφιτρίτη(Ancient Greek)
Possibly means
"the surrounding sea" or
"the surrounding third", from Greek
ἀμφίς (amphis) meaning "surrounding, around, between" and the same root found in the name of
Triton. In Greek
mythology she was a goddess of the sea and salt water, the wife of
Poseidon and the mother of Triton.
Antigone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀντιγόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-TEE-GO-NEH(Classical Greek) an-TIG-ə-nee(English)
Derived from Greek
ἀντί (anti) meaning "against, compared to, like" and
γονή (gone) meaning "birth, offspring". In Greek legend Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. King Creon of Thebes declared that her slain brother Polynices was to remain unburied, a great dishonour. She disobeyed and gave him a proper burial, and for this she was sealed alive in a cave.
Aoede
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀοιδή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ay-EE-dee(English)
Appia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Arcadius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀρκάδιος(Ancient Greek)
Arjuna
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism
Other Scripts: अर्जुन(Sanskrit)
Means
"white, clear" in Sanskrit. In the Hindu epic the
Mahabharata this is the name of one of the five Pandavas, the sons of
Pandu. He was actually fathered by the god
Indra and Pandu's wife
Kunti. Arjuna was known as a skilled archer.
The Bhagavad Gita (a part of the Mahabharata) takes the form of a philosophical dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna.
Arkady
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Аркадий(Russian)
Pronounced: ur-KA-dyee
Arlotto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Italian
Medieval Italian name, recorded in Latin as Arlotus. It is possibly from Old French herlot meaning "vagabond, tramp".
Arsen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian, Ossetian
Other Scripts: Արսեն(Armenian) Арсен(Ossetian)
Pronounced: ahr-SEHN(Armenian)
Arshtat
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian Mythology
Other Scripts: 𐬀𐬭𐬱𐬙𐬁𐬙(Avestan)
Artemisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρτεμισία(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Artemisios. This was the name of the 4th-century BC builder of the Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. She built it in memory of her husband, the Carian prince Mausolus.
Arundhati
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi
Other Scripts: अरुन्धती, अरुंधती(Sanskrit, Hindi)
The name of a star (also called Alcor), which was named after a type of climbing plant, meaning "not restrained" in Sanskrit. In Hindu belief it is the name of the sage
Vasishtha's wife, who is identified with the star.
Asal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: عسل(Persian)
Pronounced: a-SAL
Means "honey" in Persian (of Arabic origin).
Asclepius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀσκληπιός(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: əs-KLEE-pee-əs(English)
Ashoka
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Sanskrit
Other Scripts: अशोक(Sanskrit)
Means
"without sorrow" in Sanskrit, from
अ (a) meaning "not" and
शोका (śokā) meaning "sorrow, grief". This name was borne by Ashoka (or Aśoka) the Great, a 3rd-century BC emperor of the Maurya Empire in northern India.
Aslan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Ossetian, Circassian, Literature
Other Scripts: Аслан(Kazakh, Chechen, Ossetian) Аслъан(Western Circassian) Аслъэн(Eastern Circassian)
Pronounced: as-LAN(Turkish)
From Turkic arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, first appearing in 1950.
Asta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AHS-tah(Swedish, Norwegian)
Astar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Near Eastern Mythology
The name of an Aksumite god.
Aştî
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Kurdish
Other Scripts: ئاشتی(Kurdish Sorani)
Means "peace, tranquility" in Kurdish.
Atilius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Augustus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: ow-GOOS-toos(Latin) aw-GUS-təs(English) ow-GHUYS-tuys(Dutch)
Means
"exalted, venerable", derived from Latin
augere meaning "to increase". Augustus was the title given to
Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was an adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. In 26 BC the senate officially gave him the name
Augustus, and after his death it was used as a title for subsequent emperors. This was also the name of three kings of Poland (called
August in Polish).
Aulus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: OW-loos
Possibly from Latin
avulus meaning
"little grandfather", though it could be from the Etruscan name
Aule, which was possibly derived from
avils meaning "years". This was a Roman
praenomen, or given name. Folk etymology connects it to Latin
aula meaning "palace".
Aurelianus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman
cognomen that was originally derived from the Roman family name
Aurelius. This was the name of a 3rd-century Roman emperor (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus) who reconquered the breakaway Gallic and Palmyrene Empires.
Auxentius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αὐξέντιος(Ancient Greek)
Azrael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Variant of
Azarel. This is the name of an angel in Jewish and Islamic tradition who separates the soul from the body upon death. He is sometimes referred to as the Angel of Death.
Cadmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κάδμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAD-məs(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Κάδμος (Kadmos), of uncertain meaning. In Greek
mythology Cadmus was the son of the Phoenician king
Agenor. He was sent by his father to rescue his sister
Europa, who had been abducted by
Zeus, although he did not succeed in retrieving her. According to legend, Cadmus founded the city of Thebes and introduced the alphabet to Greece.
Caesar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KIE-sar(Latin) SEE-zər(English)
From a Roman
cognomen that possibly meant
"hairy", from Latin
caesaries "hair". Julius Caesar and his adopted son Julius Caesar Octavianus (commonly known as Augustus) were both rulers of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC.
Caesar was used as a title by the emperors that came after them.
Caesonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Feminine form of
Caesonius. This name was borne by Milonia Caesonia, the last wife of the Roman emperor
Caligula.
Charikleia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Χαρίκλεια(Greek)
From Greek
χάρις (charis) meaning "grace, kindness" and
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory". This is the name of the heroine of the 3rd-century novel
Aethiopica, about the love between Charikleia and Theagenes, written by Heliodorus of Emesa.
Cicero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KEE-keh-ro(Latin) SIS-ə-ro(English)
Roman
cognomen derived from Latin
cicer meaning
"chickpea". Marcus Tullius Cicero (now known simply as Cicero) was a statesman, orator and author of the 1st century BC. He was a political enemy of Mark Antony, who eventually had him executed.
Concordia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: kon-KOR-dee-a(Latin) kən-KAWR-dee-ə(English)
Means "harmony" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of harmony and peace.
Cordula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Late Latin name meaning
"heart" from Latin
cor (genitive
cordis).
Saint Cordula was one of the 4th-century companions of Saint Ursula.
Cornelius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English, Dutch, German, Biblical
Pronounced: kor-NEH-lee-oos(Latin) kawr-NEE-lee-əs(English) kawr-NEH-lee-yuys(Dutch) kawr-NEH-lee-uws(German)
Roman family name that possibly derives from the Latin element
cornu meaning
"horn". In Acts in the
New Testament Cornelius is a centurion who is directed by an angel to seek
Peter. After speaking with Peter he converts to Christianity, and he is traditionally deemed the first gentile convert. The name was also borne by a few early
saints, including a 3rd-century pope. In England it came into use in the 16th century, partly due to Dutch influence.
Crescens
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman, Biblical Latin
Latin name that was derived from
crescere "to grow". This name is mentioned briefly in one of
Paul's epistles in the
New Testament.
Cyprian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish, History (Ecclesiastical)
Pronounced: TSI-pryan(Polish) SIP-ree-ən(English)
From the Roman family name
Cyprianus, which meant
"from Cyprus".
Saint Cyprian was a 3rd-century bishop of Carthage who was martyred under the Roman emperor Valerian.
Daedalus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δαίδαλος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEHD-ə-ləs(English) DEED-ə-ləs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Δαίδαλος (Daidalos), which was derived from
δαιδάλλω (daidallo) meaning
"to work cunningly". In Greek
myth Daedalus was an Athenian inventor who was banished to Crete. There he designed the Labyrinth for King
Minos, but he and his son
Icarus were eventually imprisoned inside it because he had aided
Theseus in his quest against the Minotaur. Daedalus and Icarus escaped using wings fashioned from wax, but Icarus fell from the sky to his death.
D'Artagnan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Means "from Artagnan" in French, Artagnan being a town in southwestern France. This was the name of a character in the novel The Three Musketeers (1884) by Alexandre Dumas. In the novel D'Artagnan is an aspiring musketeer who first duels with the three title characters and then becomes their friend.
Diocletian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: die-ə-KLEE-shən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Diocletianus, a derivative of
Diokles. This was the name of a Roman emperor of the 3rd and 4th centuries (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus). He is remembered for persecuting Christians, but he also reformed and stabilized the crumbling Empire.
Églantine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-GLAHN-TEEN
Eleutherius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἐλευθέριος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἐλευθέριος (Eleutherios), which meant
"free". This was the name of a 2nd-century pope, as well as several
saints.
Erasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἔρασμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-RAZ-məs(English)
Derived from Greek
ἐράσμιος (erasmios) meaning
"beloved, desired".
Saint Erasmus, also known as Saint
Elmo, was a 4th-century martyr who is the patron saint of sailors. Erasmus was also the name of a Dutch scholar of the Renaissance period.
Ermengarde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic
Espérance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EHS-PEH-RAHNS
Estienne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French
Euphème
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Archaic)
Pronounced: UU-FEHM
Eurydice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐρυδίκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-RUY-dee-keh(Latin) yuw-RID-i-see(English)
From the Greek
Εὐρυδίκη (Eurydike) meaning
"wide justice", derived from
εὐρύς (eurys) meaning "wide" and
δίκη (dike) meaning "justice, custom, order". In Greek
myth she was the wife of Orpheus. Her husband tried to rescue her from Hades, but he failed when he disobeyed the condition that he not look back upon her on their way out.
Fabiola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: fa-BEE-o-la(Italian) fa-BYO-la(Spanish)
Fabius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman family name that was derived from Latin
faba meaning
"bean". Quintus Fabius Maximus was the Roman general who used delaying tactics to halt the invasion of
Hannibal in the 3rd century BC.
Fabrice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: FAB-REES
French form of the Roman family name Fabricius, which was derived from Latin faber meaning "craftsman". Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was a 3rd-century BC Roman general and statesman.
Fidelis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Flavius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian
Pronounced: FLA-wee-oos(Latin)
Roman family name meaning
"golden" or
"yellow-haired" from Latin
flavus "yellow, golden". Flavius was the family name of the 1st-century Roman emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. It was used as a personal name by several later emperors, notably by
Constantine.
Gnaeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: GNIE-oos(Latin) NIE-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, which is of unknown Etruscan meaning, though it may be related to Latin
naevus "birthmark". A famous bearer was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey the Great, a Roman general of the 1st century BC.
Gonzalo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: gon-THA-lo(European Spanish) gon-SA-lo(Latin American Spanish)
From the medieval name
Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic (possibly Visigothic or Suebi) name composed of
gunda "war" and maybe
salba "salve, ointment",
salo "dark, dusky" or
sal "house, hall" (with the spelling perhaps influenced by Latin
salvus "safe").
Saint Gonzalo was an 11th-century bishop of Mondoñedo in Galicia, Spain.
Hathor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Ἅθωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HATH-awr(English)
Greek form of Egyptian
ḥwt-ḥrw (reconstructed as
Hut-Heru) meaning
"the house of Horus", derived from Egyptian
ḥwt "house" combined with the god
Horus. In Egyptian
mythology she was the goddess of love, often depicted with the head of a cow.
Hippolyta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἱππολύτη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: hi-PAHL-i-tə(English)
Latinized form of
Hippolyte 1. In Shakespeare's comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) she is the queen of the Amazons, due to marry
Theseus the Duke of Athens.
Horatio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: hə-RAY-shee-o, hə-RAY-sho
Variant of
Horatius. Shakespeare used it for a character in his tragedy
Hamlet (1600). It was borne by the British admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), famous for his defeat of Napoleon's forces in the Battle of Trafalgar, in which he was himself killed. Since his time the name has been occasionally used in his honour.
Hypatia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὑπατία(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning
"highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.
Iphigenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἰφιγένεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: if-i-ji-NIE-ə(English)
Ismene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰσμήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EEZ-MEH-NEH(Classical Greek) is-MEE-nee(English)
Possibly from Greek
ἰσμή (isme) meaning
"knowledge". This was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek legend.
Lachesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λάχεσις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAK-i-sis(English)
Means
"apportioner" in Greek. She was one of the three Fates or
Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek
mythology. She was responsible for deciding how long each person had to live.
Laetitia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, French
Pronounced: LEH-TEE-SYA(French)
Original Latin form of
Letitia, as well as a French variant. This name began rising in popularity in France around the same time that Serge Gainsbourg released his 1963 song
Elaeudanla Téïtéïa (this title is a phonetic rendering of the letters in the name
Lætitia). It peaked in 1982 as the fourth most common name for girls.
Leocadia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: leh-o-KA-dhya(Spanish)
Late Latin name that might be derived from the name of the Greek island of
Leucadia or from Greek
λευκός (leukos) meaning
"bright, clear, white" (which is also the root of the island's name).
Saint Leocadia was a 3rd-century martyr from Spain.
Leonidas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λεωνίδας(Greek)
Derived from Greek
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" combined with the patronymic suffix
ἴδης (ides). Leonidas was a Spartan king of the 5th century BC who sacrificed his life and his army defending the pass of Thermopylae from the Persians. This was also the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr, the father of Origen, from Alexandria.
Livia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LEE-vya(Italian)
Feminine form of
Livius. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus, Livia Drusilla.
Livius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman family name that may be related to either Latin liveo "to envy" or lividus "blue, envious". Titus Livius, also known as Livy, was a Roman historian who wrote a history of the city of Rome.
Lucius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Biblical, English
Pronounced: LOO-kee-oos(Latin) LOO-shəs(English) LOO-si-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, which was derived from Latin
lux "light". This was the most popular of the praenomina. Two Etruscan kings of early Rome had this name as well as several prominent later Romans, including Lucius Annaeus Seneca (known simply as Seneca), a statesman, philosopher, orator and tragedian. The name is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament belonging to a Christian in Antioch. It was also borne by three popes, including the 3rd-century
Saint Lucius. Despite this, the name was not regularly used in the Christian world until after the Renaissance.
Lucretius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: loo-KREH-tee-oos(Latin) loo-KREE-shəs(English)
Masculine form of
Lucretia. This name was borne by 1st-century BC Roman poet Titus Lucretius Carus.
Lycus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λύκος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λύκος (Lykos) meaning
"wolf". This name was borne by several characters in Greek
mythology including a legendary ruler of Thebes.
Magnus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: MANG-nuys(Swedish) MAHNG-noos(Norwegian) MOW-noos(Danish) MAG-nəs(English)
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.
Marduk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒀫𒌓(Akkadian Cuneiform)
Pronounced: MAHR-duwk(English)
Probably from Sumerian
amar-Utuk meaning
"calf of Utu", derived from
amar "calf" combined with the name of the sun god
Utu. This was the name of the chief Babylonian god, presiding over heaven, light, sky, battle, and fertility. After killing the dragon
Tiamat, who was an old enemy of the gods, he created the world and sky from the pieces of her body.
Martialis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Maurice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: MAW-REES(French) maw-REES(English) MAWR-is(English)
From the Roman name
Mauritius, a derivative of
Maurus.
Saint Maurice was a 3rd-century Roman soldier from Egypt. He and the other Christians in his legion were supposedly massacred on the orders of Emperor Maximian for refusing to worship Roman gods. Thus, he is the patron saint of infantry soldiers.
This name was borne by a 6th-century Byzantine emperor. Another notable bearer was Maurice of Nassau (called Maurits in Dutch), a 17th-century prince of Orange who helped establish the Dutch Republic. The name has been used in England since the Norman Conquest, usually in the spelling Morris or Moris.
Maximilian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: mak-see-MEE-lee-an(German) mak-sə-MIL-yən(English)
From the Roman name
Maximilianus, which was derived from
Maximus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (see
Emiliano), whom Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.
Maximus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: MAK-see-moos
Roman family name that was derived from Latin
maximus "greatest".
Saint Maximus was a monk and theologian from Constantinople in the 7th century.
Medeia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μήδεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MEH-DEH-A(Classical Greek)
Melpomene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μελπομένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MEHL-PO-MEH-NEH(Classical Greek) mehl-PAHM-ə-nee(English)
Derived from Greek
μέλπω (melpo) meaning
"to sing, to celebrate with song". This was the name of one of the nine Muses in Greek
mythology, the muse of tragedy.
Mnemosyne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μνημοσύνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MNEH-MO-SUY-NEH(Classical Greek) ni-MAHS-i-nee(English)
Means
"remembrance" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Mnemosyne was a Titan goddess of memory. She was the mother by
Zeus of the nine Muses.
Moderata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Italian (Archaic)
Feminine form of
Moderatus. Known bearers of this name include the 4th-century martyr and saint Moderata of Sirmium (which was located in what is nowadays Serbia) and the Venetian writer and poet Moderata Fonte (1555-1592), although it should be noted that in her case, the name is a pseudonym: her real name was
Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi.
Mucius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: MOO-kee-oos(Latin)
Ancient Roman gens name. The feminine form of this name is
Mucia.
Mustafa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, Urdu, Kazakh, Indonesian, Malay
Other Scripts: مصطفى(Arabic) مصطفی(Urdu) Мұстафа(Kazakh)
Pronounced: MOOS-ta-fa(Arabic) moos-ta-FA(Turkish)
Means
"chosen" in Arabic, derived from
اصطفا (iṣṭafā) meaning "to choose". This is an epithet of the Prophet
Muhammad. It was borne by four Ottoman sultans. Another famous bearer was Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), also known as Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Numa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Numa Pompilius (753–673 BC; reigned 715–673 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are attributed to him.
His name is allegedly a Latinization of Greek νόμος (nómos) "law; custom".
Numitor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Meaning unknown. In Roman
mythology Numitor was the king of Alba Longa and the father of
Rhea Silvia. He was overthrown by his brother
Amulius, but reinstated by his grandsons
Romulus and
Remus.
Octavian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History, Romanian
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ən(English)
From the Roman name
Octavianus, which was derived from the name
Octavius. After Gaius Octavius (later the Roman emperor
Augustus) was adopted by Julius Caesar he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.
Osiris
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Ὄσιρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-SIE-ris(English)
Greek form of the Egyptian
wsjr (reconstructed as
Asar,
Usir and other forms), which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to
wsr "mighty" or
jrt "eye". In Egyptian
mythology Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, and the dead and served as the judge of the underworld. In one tale he was slain by his brother
Seth, but restored to life by his wife
Isis in order to conceive their son
Horus, who would go on to avenge his father.
Oz 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: עוֹז(Hebrew)
Means "strength" in Hebrew.
Ozymandias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, American (Modern, Rare), Popular Culture
Other Scripts: Ὀσυμανδύας(Greek)
This particular spelling of the name was popularised through the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
It is a variant of the Ancient Greek name for Pharaoh Ramesses II, Osymandyas (Greek: Ὀσυμανδύας).
The recent revival of the name is probably triggered by a villain named Ozymandias in 'Watchmen' (TV series).
Paladin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
The name of two Tolkien characters.
Pelagios
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Πελάγιος(Ancient Greek)
Peregrine
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEHR-ə-grin
From the Late Latin name
Peregrinus, which meant
"traveller". This was the name of several early
saints.
Perpetua
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: pehr-PEH-twa(Spanish)
Derived from Latin
perpetuus meaning
"continuous". This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint martyred with another woman named Felicity.
Philomena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φιλουμένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: fil-ə-MEE-nə(English)
From Greek
Φιλουμένη (Philoumene) meaning
"to be loved", an inflection of
φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love". This was the name of an obscure early
saint and martyr. The name came to public attention in 1802 after a tomb seemingly marked with the name
Filumena was found in Rome, supposedly belonging to another martyr named Philomena. This may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word
φιλουμένη, not a name.
Photius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized), History (Ecclesiastical)
Latinized form of
Photios. Saint Photius the Great was a famous Patriarch of Constantinople.
Polymnia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πολύμνια, Πολυύμνια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PO-LUYM-NEE-A(Classical Greek)
Means
"abounding in song", derived from Greek
πολύς (polys) meaning "much" and
ὕμνος (hymnos) meaning "song, hymn". In Greek
mythology she was the goddess of dance and sacred songs, one of the nine Muses.
Pompeius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: pom-PEH-yoos
Primavera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare), Medieval Italian, Spanish (Latin American, Rare)
Pronounced: pree-ma-VEH-ra(Italian) pree-ma-BEH-ra(Spanish)
Derived from Vulgar Latin prīmavēra "spring". The descendant word primavera is used in Asturian, Catalan, Galician, Italian, Portuguese (and Old Portuguese), Sicilian, and Spanish.
Prospero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: PRAW-speh-ro
Italian form of
Prosper. This is the name of the main character, a shipwrecked magician, in
The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.
Psyche
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ψυχή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PSUY-KEH(Classical Greek) SIE-kee(English)
Means
"the soul", derived from Greek
ψύχω (psycho) meaning "to breathe". The Greeks thought that the breath was the soul. In Greek
mythology Psyche was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by Eros (or Cupid in Roman mythology). She is the subject of Keats's poem
Ode to Psyche (1819).
Publius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: POO-blee-oos(Latin) PUWB-lee-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, meaning
"public" in Latin. This was among the more common of the Roman praenomina, being borne by (among others) the emperor Hadrian and the poet Virgil.
Pyrrhus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Πύρρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PIR-əs(English)
From the Greek name
Πύρρος (Pyrrhos) meaning
"flame-coloured, red", related to
πῦρ (pyr) meaning "fire". This was another name of
Neoptolemus the son of
Achilles. This was also the name of a 3rd-century BC king of Epirus who was famed for his victorious yet costly battles against Rome.
Quinctius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman family name derived from the given name
Quintus (which was itself originally spelled
Quinctus). This was the name of a patrician family that was especially prominent during the early Republic.
Quirinus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Late Roman
Pronounced: kwee-REE-noos(Latin) kwi-RIE-nəs(English)
Possibly derived from the Sabine word
quiris meaning
"spear". Quirinus was a Sabine and Roman god, sometimes identified with
Romulus. He declined in importance after the early Republican era. The name was also borne by several early
saints.
Rahab
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: רָחָב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: RAY-hab(English)
Means
"spacious" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of a woman of Jericho who helped the Israelites capture the city.
Rashid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Uzbek, Malay
Other Scripts: رشيد, راشد(Arabic) رشید, راشد(Urdu) Рашид(Uzbek)
Pronounced: ra-SHEED(Arabic) RA-sheed(Arabic)
Means
"rightly guided" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
الرشيد (al-Rashīd) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
This transcription represents two different ways of spelling the name in Arabic: رشيد, in which the second vowel is long, and راشد, in which the first vowel is long.
Rasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: RAHS-moos(Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) RAS-smuys(Swedish)
Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of
Erasmus.
Regulus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Astronomy
Pronounced: REH-goo-loos(Latin)
Roman
cognomen meaning
"prince, little king", a
diminutive of Latin
rex "king". This was the cognomen of several 3rd-century BC consuls from the gens Atilia. It was also the name of several early
saints. A star in the constellation Leo bears this name as well.
Remus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Romanian
Pronounced: REH-moos(Latin) REE-məs(English)
Meaning uncertain, possibly from Old Latin *
yemos meaning
"twin" with the initial consonant altered due to the influence of
Romulus. In Roman legend the twin brothers
Romulus and Remus were the founders of the city of Rome. Remus was later slain by his brother.
Rhadamanthus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥαδάμανθυς(Ancient Greek)
Meaning unknown, probably of pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek ῥᾴδιος (rhaidios) "easy" and μανθάνω (manthanô) "to learn, come to know". In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus or Rhadamanthys was a son of Zeus and Europa. He was a king of Crete known for his integrity and honor, and was made a judge of the underworld after his death.
Romulus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Romanian
Pronounced: RO-moo-loos(Latin) RAHM-yuw-ləs(English)
From
Roma, the Latin name of the city of
Rome, combined with a
diminutive suffix. In Roman legend Romulus and
Remus were the twin sons of Rhea Silvia and the god
Mars. Romulus killed his brother when they argued about where to found Rome. According to the tale he gave the city its name, though in reality it was likely the other way around.
Sabine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Danish
Pronounced: SA-BEEN(French) za-BEE-nə(German) sa-BEE-nə(Dutch)
French, German, Dutch and Danish form of
Sabina.
Salacia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: sa-LA-kee-a(Latin)
Derived from Latin sal meaning "salt". This was the name of the Roman goddess of salt water.
Salaneide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Sami Mythology
Derived from sala meaning "sun" and neida meaning "daughter, girl". This is the name of the Sami solar goddess.
Scaevola
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: SKIE-wo-la
Scholastica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
From a Late Latin name that was derived from
scholasticus meaning
"rhetorician, orator".
Saint Scholastica was a 6th-century Benedictine abbess, the sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia.
Septimus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: SEHP-tee-moos
Roman
praenomen, or given name, which meant
"seventh" in Latin.
Sergius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: SEHR-gee-oos
Roman family name, possibly meaning
"servant" in Latin but most likely of unknown Etruscan origin.
Saint Sergius was a 4th-century Roman officer who was martyred in Syria with his companion Bacchus. They are the patron saints of Christian desert nomads. Another saint by this name (in the Russian form
Sergey) was a 14th-century Russian spiritual leader. The name was also borne by four popes.
Severus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: seh-WEH-roos(Latin) si-VIR-əs(English) SEHV-ə-rəs(English)
Roman family name meaning
"stern" in Latin. This name was borne by several early
saints including a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.
Shahrazad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian (Rare), Arabic
Other Scripts: شهرزاد(Persian, Arabic)
Pronounced: shahr-ZAWD(Persian) shah-ra-ZAD(Arabic)
Possibly means
"noble lineage" from Persian
چهر (chehr) meaning "lineage, origin" and
آزاد (āzād) meaning "free, noble"
[1]. Alternatively, it might mean
"child of the city" from
شهر (shahr) meaning "city, land" combined with the suffix
زاد (zād) meaning "child of". This is the name of the fictional storyteller in
The 1001 Nights. She tells a story to her husband the king every night for 1001 nights in order to delay her execution.
Sibyl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
From Greek
Σίβυλλα (Sibylla), meaning
"prophetess, sibyl". In Greek and Roman legend the sibyls were female prophets who practiced at different holy sites in the ancient world. In later Christian theology, the sibyls were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered in much the same way as the
Old Testament prophets. Because of this, the name came into general use in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The
Normans imported it to England, where it was spelled both
Sibyl and
Sybil. It became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps helped by Benjamin Disraeli's novel
Sybil (1845).
Sidony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
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.
Sirius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: SIR-ee-əs(English)
The name of a bright star in the constellation Canis Major, derived via Latin from Greek
σείριος (seirios) meaning
"burning".
Somerled
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse (Anglicized)
Anglicized form of the Old Norse name Sumarliði meaning "summer traveller". This was the name of a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king of Mann and the Scottish Isles.
Sophronia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Late Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σωφρονία(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Sophronius. Torquato Tasso used it in his epic poem
Jerusalem Delivered (1580), in which it is borne by the lover of
Olindo.
Tacitus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: TA-kee-toos(Latin) TAS-i-tuws(English)
Roman
cognomen meaning
"silent, mute" in Latin. This was the name of a 1st-century Roman historian, known for writing the
Histories and the
Annals.
Tantalus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τάνταλος(Ancient Greek)
In Greek mythology he was a hero, most famous for his eternal punishment in Tartarus. He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink. He was the father of
Pelops,
Niobe and
Broteas, and was a son of
Zeus and the nymph
Plouto.
Tatius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Ancient Roman
Roman family name of unknown meaning, possibly of Sabine origin. According to Roman legend, Titus Tatius was an 8th-century BC king of the Sabines who came to jointly rule over the Romans and Sabines with the Roman king Romulus.
Terpsichore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τερψιχόρη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEHR-PSEE-KO-REH(Classical Greek) tərp-SIK-ə-ree(English)
Means
"enjoying the dance" from Greek
τέρψις (terpsis) meaning "delight" and
χορός (choros) meaning "dance". In Greek
mythology she was the goddess of dance and dramatic chorus, one of the nine Muses.
Themis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θέμις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) THEE-mis(English)
Means
"law of nature, divine law, custom" in Greek. In Greek
mythology this was the name of a Titan who presided over custom and natural law. She was often depicted blindfolded and holding a pair of scales. By
Zeus she was the mother of many deities, including the three
Μοῖραι (Moirai) and the three
Ὥραι (Horai).
Tiberius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: tee-BEH-ree-oos(Latin) tie-BEHR-ee-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, meaning
"of the Tiber" in Latin. The Tiber is the river that runs through Rome. Tiberius was the second Roman emperor, the stepson of Emperor
Augustus. He was born Tiberius Claudius Nero, but was renamed Tiberius Julius Caesar after he was designated as the heir of Augustus.
Trajan 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: TRAY-jən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Traianus, which is of unknown meaning. The Roman emperor Trajan (full name Marcus Ulpius Traianus) is considered among the most capable men to have led the empire. His military accomplishments include victories over Dacia and Parthia.
Triton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τρίτων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TRIE-tən(English)
Meaning uncertain. It is possibly related to a root meaning
"the sea" (
cognate with Old Irish
trethan). Alternatively it could be connected to Greek
τρεῖς (treis) meaning
"three" (ordinal form
τρίτος). In Greek
mythology Triton was the son of
Poseidon and
Amphitrite. He was often depicted as a merman, half-human and half-fish. The largest of Neptune's moons is named after him.
Tullus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman (Rare)
Pronounced: TOOL-loos
Roman
praenomen, or given name, of unknown meaning. This was a rare praenomen.
Urania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Οὐρανία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-RAY-nee-ə(English)
Valerian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Georgian, Romanian, History
Other Scripts: Валериан(Russian) ვალერიან(Georgian)
Pronounced: və-LIR-ee-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Valerianus, which was itself derived from the Roman name
Valerius. This was the name of a 3rd-century Roman emperor (Publius Licinius Valerianus) who was captured by the Persians. Several
saints have also borne this name, including a 2nd-century martyr of Lyons.
Viatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
behindthename.com · Copyright © 1996-2024