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2007-05-16 11:42:02
Etymology and History of First Names
“As his name is, so is he…” : It is from Samuel, Old Testament. “My Lord, do not take seriously this ill natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young man of my lord, whom you sent.”
1.
2. Barbara (f) represents the personality characteristics of sensitive, artistic, unstable, and self-conscious and comes from the Greek barbaros, meaning “foreign”. Saint Barbara was a woman killed by her father, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning. She is the patron of architects, geologists, stonemasons and artillerymen.
3. Bertha (f) represents the personality characteristics of idealistic, generous, kind, caring, possessive and comes from German, meaning “bright, famous”. Bertha is well known in German legends as a character who sneaks into nurseries and rocks children to sleep.
4. Carol (f or m) represents the personality characteristics of quiet, practical, clever, methodical, creative, inventive, analytical, studious and moody and is an English feminine form of Carolus meaning “song” or “hymn” in English. Note that Carol used to be a masculine name as well but now it is for girls only.
5. Cindy (f) represents the personality characteristics of idealistic, proactive, impressionable, receptive, candid, imaginative, visionary and perfectionist. Cindy is a short form of Cynthi which comes from the Greek “Kynthos”, the name of the Greek moon goddess Artemis who was named after the mountain Kynthos on which she and her twin brother Apollo were presumably born.
6. Debbie (f) represents the personality characteristics of generous, understanding, honest, creative, and intense. It is a short name of Deborah originally from a Hebrew name for a woman described in the Old Testament history of the Bible.
7. Diane (f) represents the personality characteristics of clever, responsible, friendly, serious, reliable and independent and comes from the French form of Diana, originally from the Roman goddess of nature and fertility.
8. Elmer (m) represents the personality characteristics of shrewd, aggressive, decisive, self-centered and independent and comes from Old English, meaning “noble, famous”.
9. Harry (m) represents the personality characteristics of individual, reserved, serious, stubborn, alone, loyal and thoughtful. It is the Medieval English form of Henry, the name of eight kings of
10. Hubert (m) represents the personality characteristics of pleasant, diplomatic, sensitive, passive and procrastinator and comes form German, meaning “bright heart”. The
11. Joe (m) represents the personality characteristics of spontaneous, social, easy-going, warm, generous, lacking in initiative and is a short form of Joseph, originally from a Hebrew name of a famous man in the Old Testament history of the Bible.
12. Julian (m) represents the personality characteristics of patient, careful, cautious, conservative and intense and comes from Julius, the name of the last Roman emperor.
13. Linda (f) represents the personality characteristics of hard worker, careful, patient, independent, reliable and practical and comes from Spanish or Italian, meaning “beautiful”.
14. Lynne (f) or Lynn (m) represents the personality characteristics of sensitive, deeply artistic and creative, intense and nature-lover and comes from Welsh meaning “lake” or is a short form of Linda (Spanish), or Belinda (Italian), both meaning “beautiful”.
15. Michael (m) represents the personality characteristics of clever, responsible, serious, self-confident and independent and from the Hebrew name Mikha’el meaning “who is like God”. The New Testament of the Bible identifies Michael as the archangel who leads heaven’s armies. He is the patron saint of soldiers.
16. Nigel (m) represents the personality characteristics of imaginative, creative, inconsistent, insecure, gullible and talkative and is an Italian form of Neil, or a French name meaning “hero”. It is sometimes associated with the Latin
17. Pope Mel is a humorous reference, meant to show how foolish it would be to put the two names together. “Pope” is a title given to the highest authority of the Roman Catholic Church in
18. Rory (m) represents the personality characteristics of practical, logical, analytical, systematic, particular and serious and comes from the Irish Ruaidhri, meaning “red king”. It is the name of the last high king of
19. Susan (f) represents the personality characteristics of pleasant, easy-going, friendly, patient, social and cautious and is a short form of Susanna. It is from the Hebrew Shoshanna name for a woman in the Old Testament history of the Bible.
20. Webster (m) represents the personality characteristics of original, inventive, friendly, positive, outspoken, and procrastinator and comes from old English, meaning “weaver”.
Some More
1. ABRAHAM Gender: Masculine
This name may be viewed either as meaning "father of many" in Hebrew or else as a contraction of ABRAM and Hebrew(hamon) "many, multitude". The biblical Abraham was originally named Abram but God changed his name . He led his followers from
2. ADAIR Gender: Masculine
From a Scottish surname which was derived from the first name EDGAR Derived from the Old English element ead "rich, blessed" combined with gar "spear". This was the name of a Saxon king of
3. ADAM Gender: Masculine
This is the Hebrew word for "man". It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew ??? ('adam) meaning "to be red", referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from Assyrian adamu meaning "to make". According to Genesis in the Old Testament Adam was created from the earth by God (there is a word play on Hebrew ??????? ('adamah) "earth"). He and Eve were supposedly the first humans, living happily in the Garden of Eden until Adam ate a forbidden fruit given to him by Eve.
4.
From a surname which meant "son of ADAM".
5. ALAN Gender: Masculine
The meaning of this name is not known for certain, though it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. It was introduced to
6. ALBERT Gender: Masculine
From the Germanic name Adalbrecht which meant "bright nobility", composed of the elements adal "noble" and beraht "bright". It was introduced to
7. ALEXANDER Gender: Masculine
From the Greek name (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek (alexo) "to defend, help" and (aner) "man" (genitive (andros)). Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, is the most famous bearer of this name. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of
8. ANGEL Gender: Masculine & Feminine
From the medieval Latin masculine name Angelus which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word (angelos) meaning "messenger").
9. ANNA Gender: Feminine
Latinate form of HANNAH. It appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was also borne by an 18th-century empress of
10.
From a surname which was derived from a contracted form of the given name AUGUSTINE. A city in
11. BENJAMIN Gender: Masculine
From the Hebrew name (Binyamin) which means "son of the south" or "son of the right hand". Benjamin in the Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. This name was also borne by Benjamin Franklin, an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.
12. BOB Gender: Masculine
Medieval short form of ROBERT. Other rhyming nicknames of Robert used in the Middle Ages were Dob, Hob and Nob.
13. BUD Gender: Masculine From the English nickname that means "friend".
14. BYRON Gender: Masculine
From a surname which was originally from a place name meaning "place of the cow sheds" in Old English. This was the surname of the romantic poet Lord Byron, the writer of 'Don Juan' and many other works.
15. COLIN Gender: Masculine
Medieval pet form of NICHOLAS . NICHOLAS Gender: Masculine
From the Greek name (Nikolaos) which meant "victory of the people" from Greek (nike) "victory" and (
16. DANIEL Gender: Masculine
From the Hebrew name (Daniyyel) meaning "God is my judge". Daniel was a Hebrew prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. He lived during the Jewish captivity in
17. DONALD Gender: Masculine
From the Gaelic name Domhnall which means "ruler of the world", composed of the Old Celtic elements dumno "world" and val "rule". Two kings of
18.
Means "place of pleasure" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people, Adam and Eve, lived before they were expelled.
19.
From (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name ('Elisheva') meaning "my God is an oath" or perhaps "my God is abundance". In the New Testament this is the name of the mother of John the Baptist. It was also borne by the 12th-century Saint Elizabeth, a daughter of King Andrew II of
20. EMERSON Gender: Masculine
From a surname meaning "son of EMERY". The surname has been borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century American poet and author who wrote about transcendentalism.
21. EMILY Gender: Feminine
Medieval feminine form of Aemilius (see EMIL). The British writer Emily Bronte, author of '
22. EVE Gender: Feminine
From the Hebrew name (Chavvah), which was derived from the Hebrew word (chavah) "to breathe" or the related word (chayah) "to live". According to the Old Testament Book of Genesis Eve and Adam were the first humans. She gave the forbidden fruit to Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
23. FRANCIS Gender: Masculine & Feminine
From the Late Latin name Franciscus which meant "Frenchman". Saint Francis of
24. GRACE Gender: Feminine
Means "grace" from the English word, which ultimately derives from Latin gratia. The actress Grace Kelly was a famous bearer of this name.
25. GYPSY Gender: Feminine
Means simply "Gypsy" from the English word for the nomadic people who originated in northern
26.
From a surname (meaning "falt hill" in Old English) which was originally taken from the name of a town in
27. HUGO Gender: Masculine
Latinized form of HUGH.As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo, the writer of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'Les Misérables'.
28. ISAAC Gender: Masculine
From the Hebrew name (Yitzchaq) which meant "he laughs". Isaac in the Old Testament was the son of Abraham and the father of Esau and Jacob. Famous bearers of this name include the physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
29. ISABEL Gender: Feminine
Most likely a medieval Spanish form of
30. JACK Gender: Masculine
Derived from Jackin (earlier Jankin), a medieval pet form of JOHN. American writers Jack London and Jack Kerouac were two famous bearers of this name.
31. JOHN Gender: Masculine
English form of Iohannes, which was the Latin form of the Greek name (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious". This name owes its consistent popularity to two New Testament characters, both highly revered as saints. The first was John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ and a victim of beheading by Herod Antipas. The second was the apostle John, also supposedly the author of the fourth Gospel and Revelation. The name has been borne by 23 popes, as well as kings of
YAHWEH
A name of the Hebrew God, represented in Hebrew by the tetragrammaton ("four letters")(Yod Heh Waw Heh), transliterated into Roman script Y H W H. Because it was considered blasphemous to utter the name of God it was only written and never spoken. This resulted in the original pronunciation being lost. The name may have originally been derived from the old Semitic root ??? (havah) meaning "to be" or "to become".
32.
From a surname which means "son of JACK".
33. JANE Gender: Feminine
English form of Jehanne, an Old French feminine form of Johannes (see JOHN). Jane Austen was the British novelist who wrote 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Pride and Prejudice' among other works. Also, the central character in Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre' bears this name.
34. JASMINE Gender: Feminine
From Persian Yasmin, the name of a climbing plant with fragrant flowers which is used for making perfumes.
35. KATHERINE Gender: Feminine
From the Greek name (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from the earlier Greek name (Hekaterine), which came from (Hekateros) "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess HECATE; it could be related to Greek (aikia) "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". The Romans associated it with Greek (katharos) "pure" and changed their spelling from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this. The name belonged to a 4th-century saint and martyr from
36 . LAURENCE Gender: Masculine
From the Roman cognomen Laurentius, which meant "of Laurentum". Laurentum was a city in ancient
37.
Variant of LAURENCE. This was the surname of the author and poet D. H. Lawrence, as well as the revolutionary T. E. Lawrence, who was known as Lawrence of Arabia.
38. MARGARET Gender: Feminine
Derived from Greek (margarites) meaning "pearl". Saint Margaret was martyred at
39. NICHOLAS Gender: Masculine
From the Greek name (Nikolaos) which meant "victory of the people" from Greek (nike) "victory" and (
40. OSCAR Gender: Masculine
Means "deer lover", derived from Gaelic os "deer" combined cara "lover". In Irish legend Oscar was the son of the poet Oisin and the grandson of the hero Fionn mac Cumhail. Famous bearers of this name include a 19th-century king of
41. OSBORN Gender: Masculine
Derived from the Old English element os "god" combined with beorn "bear". After the Norman conquest this name was rarely used.
42. PHILIP Gender: Masculine
From the Greek name (Philippos) which means "friend of horses", composed of the elements φιλο? (philos) "friend" and (Hippos) "horse". Saint Philip was an apostle in the New Testament. This was also the name of an early figure in the Christian church spoken of in Acts in the New Testament. The name was borne by five kings of
43. QUEEN Gender: Feminine
From an old nickname which was derived from the Old English word cwen meaning "woman, wife".
44. REBECCA Gender: Feminine
From the Hebrew name(Rivqah), possibly meaning "a snare" in Hebrew, or perhaps derived from an Aramaic name. This was the name of the wife of Isaac and the mother of Esau and Jacob in the Old Testament.
45. ROBERT Gender: Masculine
Means "bright fame", derived from the Germanic elements hrod "fame" and beraht "bright". The
46. SAMUEL Gender: Masculine
From the Hebrew name (Shemu'el) which could mean either "name of God" or "God has heard". Samuel was the last of the ruling judges in the Old Testament. He anointed Saul to be the first king of
47. SIGMUND Gender: Masculine
Derived from the Germanic elements sige "victory" and mund "protector" (or in the case of the Scandinavian cognate, from the Old Norse elements sigr "victory" and mundr "protector"). A notable bearer of this name was the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, the creator of the revolutionary theory of psychoanalysis.
48. SIMON Gender: Masculine
From the Greek form of the Hebrew name (Shim'on) which meant "hearkening" or "listening". The New Testament presents Simon, also known as Peter (a name given to him by Jesus), as the most important of the apostles. This is also the name of several other characters in the Bible, including the man who carried the cross for Jesus.
49. SOPHIA Gender: Feminine
Means "wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical, saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred.
50. THOMAS Gender: Masculine
Greek form of the Aramaic name Te'oma which meant "twin". In the New Testament he was the apostle who doubted the resurrected Jesus. According to tradition he was martyred in
51. ULYSSES Gender: Masculine
Latin form of ODYSSEUS. Ulysses Grant was the commander of the Union forces during the American Civil War, and was later an American president.
52. VERGIL Gender: Masculine
Variant of VIRGIL . VIRGIL Gender: Masculine
From the Roman family name Vergilius which is of unknown meaning. This was the name of a Roman poet, the writer of the 'Aeneid'.
53. WALDO Gender: Masculine
Short form of Germanic names containing the element wald which means "rule". Ralph Waldo Emerson was a 19th-century American poet and author who wrote on transcendentalism.
54. WALLACE Gender: Masculine
From a surname which originally meant "Welsh" or "foreigner" in Old French. Sir William Wallace was the Scottish hero who briefly expelled the rule of
55. XERXES Gender: Masculine
Greek form of the Persian name Khshayarsha which meant "ruler over heroes". This was a 5th-century BC king of
56. YASMIN Gender: Feminine
Persian form of JASMINE . JASMINE Gender: Feminine
From Persian Yasmin, the name of a climbing plant with fragrant flowers which is used for making perfumes.
57.
From a surname, which was derived from
58. YSABEL Gender: Feminine Variant of ISABEL
Most likely a medieval Spanish form of
59. ZACHARY Gender: Masculine
Usual English form of ZECHARIAH
ZECHARIAH
From the Hebrew name (Zekaryah) which meant "YAHWEH remembers". Zechariah was a minor prophet of the Old Testament, author of the Book of Zechariah. This is also the name of the father of John the Baptist in the New Testament, who was temporarily made dumb because of his disbelief.
60. ZAK Gender: Masculine
Short form of ZACHARY or ISAAC . ZACHARY
Usual English form of ZECHARIAH
ZECHARIAH
From the Hebrew name (Zekaryah) which meant "YAHWEH remembers". Zechariah was a minor prophet of the Old Testament, author of the Book of Zechariah. This is also the name of the father of John the Baptist in the New Testament, who was temporarily made dumb because of his disbelief.