erb816's Personal Name List

French form of Amelia.

Italian and Spanish form of Elisha.

Contracted form of Veridiana, which itself is a variant form of Viridiana. This was the name of an Italian saint from the 13th century AD.

Feminine form of Maël, possibly influenced by the spelling of Mailys.

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

Germanic name, originally a short form of other feminine names containing the Germanic element frid meaning "peace". This is also the Scandinavian equivalent, from the Old Norse cognate Fríða. A famous bearer was Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954).

Feminine form of Fortunato.

Means "elf, sprite" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

From the Occitan name Mirèio, which was first used by the poet Frédéric Mistral for the main character in his poem Mirèio (1859). He probably derived it from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire". It is spelled Mirèlha in classical Occitan orthography. A notable bearer is the French singer Mireille Mathieu (1946-).

From the Roman family name Velius, which possibly means "concealed" in Latin.

Breton form of Katherine.

From Old Irish Aífe, derived from oíph meaning "beauty" (modern Irish aoibh). This was the name of several characters in Irish legend, including a woman at war with Scáthach (her sister in some versions). She was defeated in single combat by the hero Cúchulainn, who spared her life on the condition that she bear him a child (Connla). Another legendary figure by this name appears in the Children of Lir as the jealous third wife of Lir.

This name is sometimes Anglicized as Eve or Eva.

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

Italian form of Lucretia.

Italian form of Octavia.

Italian form of Clara. Saint Chiara (commonly called Saint Clare in English) was a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Valens.

French form of Veronica.

Variant of Yasmin.

Alternate transcription of Russian Алексей (see Aleksey).

Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.

Ancient Greek and Latin form of Andrew. It is also the form used in Modern Greek, German and Welsh.

Latin form of Greek Ioannes (see John). Notable bearers include the inventor of the printing press Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468), astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).

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).

Means "bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet Oisín, the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.

Diminutive of Eilionoir, also taken to be a Gaelic form of Helen.

Dutch form of Angélique.

Feminine variant of Aviv.

Meaning unknown, perhaps related to Old Norse stilling "calm", or perhaps of German origin.

Amharic form of John.

Alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Николай (see Nikolay).

Feminine form of Eleftherios.

Spanish form of Xavier.

Means "marjoram" in French. Marjoram is a minty herb.

Possibly from Zapotec nadxiie lii meaning "I love you" or nayele' meaning "open".

From an Old Norse name, which was derived from the elements sól "sun" and veig "strength". This is the name of the heroine in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (1876).

French and Czech form of Silvia.

Means "love" in Cornish.

Means "altar of the sky" from Latin ara "altar" and coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin Mary in her role as the patron saint of Lucena, Spain.

Welsh form of Stephen.

Italian form of Aelius or Helios.

Feminine form of Willem.

Means "heavenly mist" from Hawaiian noe "mist" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".

Variant of Viveka.

Variant of Solène.

Circassian form of Nafisa.

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.

From the Old Norse name Leifr meaning "descendant, heir". Leif Eriksson was a Norse explorer who reached North America in the early 11th century. He was the son of Erik the Red.

Possibly a French variant of Anahita. A famous bearer was the French writer Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), known for her diaries.

Means "angel" in Maori.

Means "breeze" in Arabic.

Means "shining brow", derived from Welsh tal "brow, head" and iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. He is the central character in the Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king Maelgwn Gwynedd.

Used by the French author George Sand for a character in her novel Mattea (1833) and later by the Italian author Luciano Zuccoli in his novel L'amore de Loredana (1908). It was possibly based on the Venetian surname Loredan, which was derived from the place name Loreo.

Spanish, Catalan, Russian and Polish form of Ariadne.

Variant of Éamonn.

Means "radiance, brilliance" in Irish. This was the name of a goddess of love and fertility in Irish legend, thought to dwell at the hill of Cnoc Áine in Limerick. It has sometimes been Anglicized as Anne.

Perhaps a form of Azalaïs. It was borne by Saint Marie-Azélie Guérin (1831-1877), also called Zélie, the mother of Thérèse of Lisieux.

Bosnian feminine form of Al-Amir.

Means "pillar" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, María del Pilar, meaning "Mary of the Pillar". According to legend, when Saint James the Greater was in Saragossa in Spain, the Virgin Mary appeared on a pillar.

Means "snow" in Finnish.

Means "empress" in Spanish.

Means "hope, aspiration" in Arabic. It is related to Amaal.

Occitan (Mistralian) form of Mireille.

Means "warmth" in Welsh.

Means "wild rose" in Persian.

Spanish and Icelandic form of Andrew.

Arabic form of Elijah.

Means "Candlemas" in Spanish, ultimately derived from Spanish candela "candle". This name is given in honour of the church festival of Candlemas, which commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary.

Scandinavian and Dutch form of Iohannes (see John).

Irish form of Maria (see Mary). The form Muire is used to refer to the Virgin Mary.

Form of Aminah 1 used in western Africa.

Means "doe, female deer, gazelle". It is taken from the Hebrew phrase אַיֶלֶת הַשַׁחַר ('ayelet hashachar), literally "gazelle of dawn", which is a name of the morning star.

Italian form of Guinevere. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word ginepro meaning "juniper".

Means "heavenly flowers" or "royal child" from Hawaiian lei "flowers, lei, child" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".

Variant of Ronne.

Means "famous battle" from the Germanic elements hrom "fame" and hild "battle".

Form of Sonya in various languages.

Possibly a Spanish form of Guiomar.

Feminine form of Ziv.

Irish form of Magdalene.

Means "good news" in Persian.

Polish form of Katherine.

Polish form of Sophia.

English form of Endelienta. Known bearers include English artist Endellion Lycett Green (1969-) and Florence Rose Endellion Cameron (2010-), British Prime Minister David Cameron's fourth child, whose second middle name was given in honour of the Cornish village of St Endellion.

Hebrew form of Jochebed.

Modern Greek form of Helen.

Variant of Fayruz.

Means "wild, untamed" (modern Irish fia) or "respect" in Irish.

Spanish form of Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King David and Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beit-lechem) meaning "house of bread".

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian feminine form of Ferdinand.

Means "free city" from the Persian elements شهر (shahr) meaning "city" and آزاد (azad) meaning "free". 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.

Variant of Øystein.

Cornish form of Iseult.

Feminine form of Gwenaël.

Feminine form of Dieudonné.

Anglicized form of Tighearnán.

Feminine form of Fen 2.

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

From the name of the patron saint of Zennor, a village in Cornwall, which is of obscure origin. Conceivably it may be derived from the Breton name Azenor or the old Celtic Senovara. According to local legend Saint Senara was originally Princess Azenor of Brest in Lower Brittany, the mother of Saint Budoc. She is also said to have been a mermaid before her conversion (though even after becoming a Christian, "she continued to pine for the sea"). This name was given to 52 girls born in England and Wales in the years 1916-2005.

Alternate transcription of Russian Севастьян (see Sevastyan).

Alternate transcription of Persian شیرین (see Shirin).

Meaning unknown. It is used as a Russian form of Bademus, but it may actually be derived from the Slavic name Vadimir or else from an Old Norse source.

French form of Sergius.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Olympias.

Means "sound, voice" from Hawaiian ka "the" and leo "sound, voice".

Invented by Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren, who based it on the middle portion of Juronjaure, the name of a lake in Sweden. Lindgren used it in her 1981 book Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronia is the English translation).

Means "beautifier, improver" in Arabic. Hassan ibn Thabit was a 7th-century poet who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. This name is sometimes transcribed as Hasan, though the two names are spelled distinctly in Arabic.

Spanish variant of Isidore.

Means "new" in Sanskrit.

Means "appeared" in Portuguese, taken from the Brazilian title of the Virgin Mary Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida, meaning "Our Lady of the Conception Who Appeared". It refers to a statue of the Virgin Mary that was said to have been pulled from a river by fishermen in the 18th century. Our Lady of Aparecida is regarded as the patron saint of Brazil.

Means "horseman, knight" in Arabic.

From Tupi maya arya meaning "great-grandmother".

Feminine form of Rosendo.

From Japanese 小 (sa) meaning "small" and 百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". This name can also be composed of other kanji combinations.

Probably derived from Georgian ცის (tsis) meaning "of the sky", the genitive case of ცა (tsa) meaning "sky, heaven". This is also an alternative Georgian word for the forget-me-not flower.

From Old Norse Víðarr, which was possibly derived from víðr "wide" and arr "warrior". In Norse mythology Víðarr was the son of Odin and Grid. At the time of the end of the world, Ragnarök, it is said he will avenge his father's death by slaying the wolf Fenrir.

Derived from Georgian ზვიადი (zviadi) meaning "proud, arrogant".

Means "little flower" from Irish bláth "flower" combined with a diminutive suffix. In Irish legend she was a maiden abducted and married by Cú Roí. She was rescued by Cúchulainn, who killed her husband, but was in turn murdered by one of Cú Roí's loyal servants.

From the name of a Cornish town, which is taken from Sen Veryan meaning "Saint Veryan", a Cornish corruption of Severian, itself a corrupted form of Symphorian (the saint to whom the village church is dedicated).

From the name of a Spanish sanctuary (in Catalonia) that is devoted to the Virgin Mary.

Strictly feminine form of Ron 2.

Means "eternal" in Persian.

Variant of Sigal.

Variant of Piran.

Means "honey" in Persian (of Arabic origin).

French form of Ludovicus, the Latinized form of Ludwig. This was the name of an 1833 opera by the French composer Fromental Halévy.

Finnish feminine form of Heinrich (see Henry).

From the name of a French town. It became a popular center of pilgrimage after a young girl from the town had visions of the Virgin Mary in a nearby grotto.

Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Gypsy girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.

Possibly related to Latin verus "true". This might also be a Coptic form of the Ptolemaic name Berenice. Saint Verena was a 3rd-century Egyptian-born nurse who went with the Theban Legion to Switzerland. After the legion was massacred she settled near Zurich.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Michael. A notable bearer of this name was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the Spanish novelist and poet who wrote Don Quixote.

Hebrew form of Nadab.

Anglicized form of Úna, as well as a Finnish form.

Means "security, pledge" in Arabic.

Dutch and German variant of Arnold. This is also the Dutch word for "eagle".

Alternate transcription of Hebrew דְּבוֹרָה (see Devorah).

Finnish form of Gregory.

Italian form of the Roman name Frigidianus, which was derived from Latin frigidus "cold". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish bishop who made a pilgrimage to Rome and settled as a hermit on Mount Pisano.

Derived from Finnish ensi meaning "first".

Form of Briseis used in medieval tales about the Trojan War.

Spanish form of Núria.

Catalan form of Raymond.

Means "remedy" in Catalan, a Catalan equivalent of Remedios.

From Navajo nizhóní meaning "beautiful" [1].

Means "armour" in Old Norse.

Possibly means "forever, always" in Zapotec. It appears in the novel Aztec (1980) by the American author Gary Jennings.

Means "protection, shelter, refuge" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Amparo, meaning "Our Lady of Refuge".

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.

Modern Persian form of Dārayavahush (see Darius).

Feminine form of Feie.

Combination of Francesca and Pia.

From the Basque name of the Spanish city of Nájera, which is Arabic in origin. In the 12th century there was a reported apparition of the Virgin Mary in a nearby cave.

Alternate transcription of Russian Таисия or Ukrainian Таїсія (see Taisiya).

Russian form and Modern Greek transcription of Bessarion.

Means "third" in Spanish. This name was traditionally given to the third child born.

Means "full moon" in Sanskrit.

Manx form of Patrick.

Possibly from Old Irish líath meaning "grey". According to an Irish tale this was the name of a poet who became a nun, but then missed her lover Cuirithir so much that she died of grief. The name was also borne by a 5th-century saint, the mother of Saint Ciarán the Elder.

Feminine form of Pius.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Inés.

Modern transcription of Ardashir.

Diminutive of Ecaterina.

Derived from Welsh eilun meaning "image, likeness, idol". This was the name of a legendary 5th-century Welsh saint, also known as Eiliwedd, one of the supposed daughters of Brychan Brycheiniog.

Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 謙三 or 健三 or 賢三 (see Kenzō). Use of the name in France can probably be attributed to the fashion brand Kenzo, founded in 1970 by the Japanese-French designer Kenzō Takada (1939-).

Breton form of Louis.

From the Greek name Νικάνωρ (Nikanor), which was derived from νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man". This name was borne by several notable officers from ancient Macedon.

Means "buttercup flower" in Faroese (genus Ranunculus). The buttercup is the national flower of the Faroe Islands.

From Japanese 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" or 満 (ma) meaning "full" combined with 優 (yu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or 夕 (yu) meaning "evening". This name can also be constructed from other kanji combinations.

Means "butterfly" in Albanian.

Possibly means "traveller" in Arabic.

Feminine form of Viridianus.

Means "Sunday" in Bulgarian.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Damian.

From Japanese 日向 (hinata) meaning "sunny place", 陽向 (hinata) meaning "toward the sun", or a non-standard reading of 向日葵 (himawari) meaning "sunflower". Other kanji compounds are also possible. Because of the irregular readings, this name is often written using the hiragana writing system.

Form of Khadija used in parts of French-influenced western Africa.

Variant of Quetzalli.

Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian form of the Greek name Ταράσιος (Tarasios), which possibly means "from Taras". Taras was an Italian city, now called Taranto, which was founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BC and was named for the Greek mythological figure Taras, a son of Poseidon. Saint Tarasios was an 8th-century bishop of Constantinople. It was also borne by the Ukrainian writer and artist Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861).

Ossetian form of Tahmuras.

Georgian form of Gaius.

Russian, Ukrainian, Turkmen and Armenian form of Nazarius.

From Lithuanian vaivorykštė meaning "rainbow".

Spanish form of Alexandra.

Means "free" in Persian. This word has derivatives in several other languages, such as Hindi and Turkish.

Derived from Irish brecc "freckled, speckled" combined with a diminutive suffix, making it a cognate of Brychan. This was a common name in early Ireland, borne by at least 13 saints.

Italian form of Electra.

Spanish and Italian form of Eleutherius.

Possibly from a Breton word meaning "light". This name was borne by an obscure 6th-century saint who is now venerated mainly in Brittany and Cornwall.

French form of Gawain used in the works of Chrétien de Troyes.

Means "dark-skinned, swarthy" in Welsh.

Derived from Cornish Hedra "October". This is a recent coinage.

From Japanese 泉 (izumi) meaning "fountain, spring". This name can also be constructed from other combinations of kanji.

French form of the Old Breton name Iudicael, derived from the elements iudd "lord" and hael "generous". This was the name of a 7th-century Breton king, also regarded as a saint.

French form of Lazarus.

Short form of Eleftherios.

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.

Medieval variant of Lucrèce (see Lucretia), still occasionally found in French-speaking African countries.

From the name of a village in Andorra where there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The name of the village may derive from Latin meridies meaning "midday".

Possibly from Basque nere, a dialectal variant of nire meaning "mine". Alternatively, it could be a feminine form of Nereus. This name arose in Basque-speaking regions of Spain in the first half of the 20th century, though it is now popular throughout the country.

Turkish form of Nimat.

From the Breton phrase Noyal Gwenn meaning "holy one from Noyal". This was the epithet of a 6th-century saint and martyr from Brittany.

French form of Radulf (see Ralph).

Portuguese, Italian, Romanian and Estonian form of Radulf (see Ralph).

Means "rose" in Breton.

Means "greatest beauty" from Sanskrit रूप (rupa) meaning "beauty, form" combined with the name of the Hindu god Indra, used here to mean "greatest".

Romanian form of Roxana.

Variant of Saorfhlaith. It means free princess or free noblewoman derived from Irish saor meaning "free" and Irish flaith meaning "princess, nobelwoman".

Modern Hebrew form of Shulammite.

Feminine form of Silvester.

Irish form of Timothy, occurring in some Irish translations of the Bible. It is not commonly used as a given name.

Scandinavian form of Waldemar. This was the name of four kings of Denmark.

Means "wisdom, distinction, discrimination" in Sanskrit.

Variant of Gwenneg.

Combination of Yunus and Emre, given in reference to the 13th-century poet.