Ciera's Personal Name List

Acantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἄκανθα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ə-KAN-thə(English)
Latinized form of Greek Ἄκανθα (Akantha), which meant "thorn, prickle". In Greek legend she was a nymph loved by Apollo.
Aella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄελλα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-EHL-LA(Classical Greek)
Means "whirlwind" in Greek. In Greek myth this was the name of an Amazon warrior killed by Herakles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle.
Aleksi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish, Bulgarian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Алекси(Bulgarian) ალექსი(Georgian)
Pronounced: AH-lehk-see(Finnish)
Finnish, Bulgarian and Georgian form of Alexius.
Amara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Means "grace" in Igbo.
Amelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Medieval French
Pronounced: ə-MEE-lee-ə(English) ə-MEEL-yə(English) a-MEH-lya(Spanish, Italian, Polish)
Variant of Amalia, though it is sometimes confused with Emilia, which has a different origin. The name became popular in England after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century — it was borne by daughters of both George II and George III. The author Henry Fielding used it for the title character in his novel Amelia (1751). Another famous bearer was Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the first woman to make a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

This name experienced a rise in popularity at the end of the 20th century. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 2011 to 2015.

Amon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: AH-mən(English)
From Ἄμμων (Ammon), the Greek form of Egyptian jmn (reconstructed as Yamanu) meaning "the hidden one". In early Egyptian mythology he was a god of the air, creativity and fertility, who was particularly revered in Thebes. Later, during the Middle Kingdom, his attributes were combined with those of the god Ra and he was worshipped as the supreme solar deity Amon-Ra.
Askr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Old Norse form of Ask.
Azar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: آذر(Persian)
Pronounced: aw-ZAR
Means "fire" in Persian.
Circe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κίρκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-see(English)
Latinized form of Greek Κίρκη (Kirke), possibly from κίρκος (kirkos) meaning "hawk". In Greek mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed Odysseus's crew into hogs, as told in Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus forced her to change them back, then stayed with her for a year before continuing his voyage.
Deimos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δεῖμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEH-MOS(Classical Greek) DIE-məs(English)
Means "terror" in Greek. This was one of the sons of the Greek god Ares. Also, a moon of Mars bears this name.
Embla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: EHM-blah(Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian)
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.
Emilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Αιμιλία(Greek) Емилия(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish) EH-mee-lee-ah(Finnish) eh-MEE-lee-ah(Swedish) i-MEE-lee-ə(English) eh-mee-LEE-a(Greek)
Feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of Iago.
Ereshkigal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Sumerian Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒊩𒆠𒃲(Sumerian Cuneiform)
Pronounced: ay-RESH-kee-gahl(English) ehr-esh-KIG-əl(English)
Means "lady of the great earth", from Sumerian 𒊩𒌆 (ereš) meaning "lady, queen" combined with 𒆠 (ki) meaning "earth" and 𒃲 (gal) meaning "great, big". In Sumerian mythology she was the goddess of death and the underworld.
Erle 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Feminine form of Jarl.
Ersilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ehr-SEE-lya
Italian form of Hersilia.
Giovanni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jo-VAN-nee
Italian form of Iohannes (see John). This name has been very common in Italy since the late Middle Ages, as with other equivalents of John in Europe. The Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) and the painter and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) were famous bearers of the name.
Gregor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Scottish, Slovak, Slovene
Pronounced: GREH-go(German) GREH-gawr(Slovak)
German, Scottish, Slovak and Slovene form of Gregorius (see Gregory). A famous bearer was Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a Czech monk and scientist who did experiments in genetics.
Gudrun
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German
Pronounced: GOO-droon(German)
From the Old Norse name Guðrún meaning "god's secret lore", derived from the elements guð "god" and rún "secret lore, rune". In Norse legend Gudrun was the wife of Sigurd. After his death she married Atli, but when he murdered her brothers, she killed her sons by him, fed him their hearts, and then slew him. Her story appears in Norse literature such as the Eddas and the Völsungasaga. She is called Kriemhild in German versions of the tale. This is also an unrelated character in the medieval German epic Kudrun.
Guðrún
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Old Norse [1][2], Norse Mythology, Icelandic
Old Norse form of Gudrun, as well as the modern Icelandic form.
Håkon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Pronounced: HO-kuwn
Modern Norwegian form of the Old Norse name Hákon, derived from the element hár "high" or hǫð "battle, combat" combined with and konr "son, descendant". This was the name of seven kings of Norway.
Heikki
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: HAYK-kee
Finnish form of Heinrich (see Henry).
Hulda 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian, Norse Mythology [1]
Derived from Old Norse hulda meaning "hiding, secrecy". This was the name of a sorceress in Norse mythology. As a modern name, it can also derive from archaic Swedish huld meaning "gracious, sweet, lovable" [2].
Jaska
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: YAHS-kah
Diminutive of Jaakko.
Jonathan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹנָתָן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAHN-ə-thən(American English) JAWN-ə-thən(British English) ZHAW-NA-TAHN(French) YO-na-tan(German) YO-na-tahn(Dutch)
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.

Kaja 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Estonian, Slovene
Pronounced: KA-ya(Swedish) KAH-yah(Estonian)
Scandinavian diminutive of Katarina.
Kitty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT-ee
Diminutive of Katherine.
Leiv
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Norwegian variant of Leif.
Lisbet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Scandinavian short form of Elisabet.
Marino
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ma-REE-no
Italian and Spanish form of Marinus.
Mark
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Russian, Belarusian, Dutch, Danish, Armenian, Biblical
Other Scripts: Марк(Russian, Belarusian) Մարկ(Armenian)
Pronounced: MAHRK(English, Dutch, Eastern Armenian) MARK(Russian) MAHRG(Western Armenian)
Form of Latin Marcus used in several languages. Saint Mark was the author of the second gospel in the New Testament. Though the author's identity is not certain, some traditions hold him to be the same person as the John Mark who appears in the Book of Acts. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Though in use during the Middle Ages, Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form Marcus.

In the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult this was the name of a king of Cornwall. It was also borne by the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910), real name Samuel Clemens, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms. This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).

Markku
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: MAHRK-koo
Finnish form of Marcus (see Mark).
Miranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mi-RAN-də(English) mee-RAHN-da(Dutch)
Derived from Latin mirandus meaning "admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Nils
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: NILS
Scandinavian form of Nicholas.
Oddmund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
From the Old Norse elements oddr "point of a sword" and mundr "protection". This name was coined in the 19th century [1].
Olivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: o-LIV-ee-ə(English) ə-LIV-ee-ə(English) o-LEE-vya(Italian, German) o-LEE-bya(Spanish) AW-LEE-VYA(French) O-lee-vee-ah(Finnish) o-LEE-vee-ya(Dutch)
This name was used in this spelling by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy Twelfth Night (1602). This was a rare name in Shakespeare's time [1] that may have been based on Oliva or Oliver, or directly on the Latin word oliva meaning "olive". In the play Olivia is a noblewoman wooed by Duke Orsino. Instead she falls in love with his messenger Cesario, who is actually Viola in disguise.

Olivia has been used in the English-speaking world since the 18th century, though it did not become overly popular until the last half of the 20th century. Its rise in popularity in the 1970s may have been inspired by a character on the television series The Waltons (1972-1982) [2] or the singer Olivia Newton-John (1948-2022). In 1989 it was borne by a young character on The Cosby Show, which likely accelerated its growth. It reached the top rank in England and Wales by 2008 and in the United States by 2019.

A famous bearer was the British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020).

Omar 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Bosnian, Kazakh, Malay, English, Spanish, Italian
Other Scripts: عمر(Arabic) Омар(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ‘OO-mar(Arabic) ‘O-mar(Egyptian Arabic) O-mahr(English) o-MAR(Spanish)
Alternate transcription of Arabic عمر (see Umar). This is the usual English spelling of the name of the 12th-century poet Umar Khayyam. In his honour it has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world, notably for the American general Omar Bradley (1893-1981).
Orfeo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish (Rare)
Pronounced: or-FEH-o
Italian and Spanish form of Orpheus.
Phobos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Φόβος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PO-BOS(Classical Greek) FO-bəs(English)
Means "fear, panic" in Greek. This was one of the sons of Ares in Greek mythology. Also, one of the moons of Mars bears this name.
Saara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: SAH-rah
Finnish form of Sarah.
Sabina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Swedish, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Сабина(Russian)
Pronounced: sa-BEE-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish) SA-bi-na(Czech)
Feminine form of Sabinus, a Roman cognomen meaning "a Sabine" in Latin. The Sabines were an ancient people who lived in central Italy, their lands eventually taken over by the Romans after several wars. According to legend, the Romans abducted several Sabine women during a raid, and when the men came to rescue them, the women were able to make peace between the two groups. This name was borne by several early saints.
Sanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish
Pronounced: SAHN-nah(Finnish)
Short form of Susanna. It can also be derived from Swedish sann meaning "true".
Selene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-LEH-NEH(Classical Greek) si-LEE-nee(English) si-LEEN(English)
Means "moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess Artemis.
Sigrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German, Estonian, Finnish (Archaic)
Pronounced: SEE-grid(Swedish) SEEG-reed(Finnish)
From the Old Norse name Sigríðr, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and fríðr "beautiful, beloved".
Sigrun
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, German
Norwegian form of Sigrún.
Skaði
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Means "damage, harm" in Old Norse. In Norse mythology she was a giantess (jǫtunn) associated with the winter, skiing and mountains. After the gods killed her father, they offered her a husband from among them as compensation. She ended up marrying Njord.
Stian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Modern Norwegian form of Stígandr.
Sunniva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Scandinavian form of the Old English name Sunngifu, which meant "sun gift" from the Old English elements sunne "sun" and giefu "gift". This was the name of a legendary English saint who was shipwrecked in Norway and killed by the inhabitants.
Thurayya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ثريّا, ثريّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: thoo-RIE-ya
Means "the Pleiades" in Arabic. The Pleiades are a group of stars in the constellation Taurus.
Timur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkish, Russian, History
Other Scripts: Тимур(Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Russian) Төмөр(Mongolian Cyrillic)
Pronounced: tyi-MOOR(Russian) ti-MUWR(English)
From the Turkic and Mongol name Temür meaning "iron". This was the name of several Mongol, Turkic and Yuan leaders. A notable bearer was Timur, also known as Tamerlane (from Persian تیمور لنگ (Tīmūr e Lang) meaning "Timur the lame"), a 14th-century Turkic leader who conquered large areas of western Asia.
Titus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: TEE-toos(Latin) TIE-təs(English) TEE-tuws(German)
Roman praenomen, or given name, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to Latin titulus "title of honour". It is more likely of Oscan origin, since it was borne by the legendary Sabine king Titus Tatius.

This name appears in the New Testament belonging to a companion of Saint Paul. He became the first bishop of Crete and was the recipient of one of Paul's epistles. This was also the praenomen of all three Roman emperors of the 1st-century Flavian dynasty, and it is the name by which the second of them is commonly known to history. Shakespeare later used it for the main character in his tragedy Titus Andronicus (1593). As an English name, Titus has been occasionally used since the Protestant Reformation.

Virva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: VEER-vah
Possibly derived from Finnish virvatuli meaning "will o' the wisp". In folklore, will o' the wisp is a floating ball of light that appears over water.
Ylva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Means "she-wolf", a derivative of Old Norse úlfr "wolf".
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