Mongol

Borrowed from Classical Mongolian ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ (mongɣol), from Middle Mongol ᠮᠣᠩᠬᠣᠯ (mongqol).
The sense “person with Down syndrome” comes from the fact that people with this condition often have a prominent epicanthic fold, as most people of East Asian ethnicity do.

bor+

A member of any of the various Mongol ethnic groups living in The Mongolian People's Republic, the (former) USSR, Tibet and Nepal.


Mons

A diminutive of the female given name Monica.

A diminutive of the male given name Montgomery.


More

From French mooré, from Moore moore (“Moore language”), from moaaga (“Mossi person”) + -re (suffix for names of languages).

suffix

Mòoré (alternative)
Mooré (alternative)
Moré (alternative)
Moshi (alternative)
Mossi (alternative)
Moore (alternative)

The Volta-Congo language of the Mossi people, mainly spoken in part of Burkina Faso.


Morgan

en-prop

Morgan (countable and uncountable, plural Morgans)

A male or female given name from Old Welsh Morcant, possibly from *mor (“sea”) (Welsh môr) or *mọr (“great”) (Old Welsh maur) + *kantos (“circle”) (Welsh cant), meaning “great chief” or “sea chief”.

A male given name from Irish, an adopted anglicization of Murchadh (Murrough).

(Arthurian legend) Ellipsis of Morgan le Fay.


Moro

A Heiban language spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan, Sudan.


Morris

en-proper noun

Morris (countable and uncountable, plural Morrises)

* The surname has converged from several origins; see Morris.

A male given name from Old French, a medieval form of French Maurice.

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Mort

A diminutive of the male given names Mortimer and Morton.


Motu

An Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea.


My Nan shall be the queen of all the fairies, / Finely attired in a robe of white.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:

A diminutive of the female given name Ann and Nancy.


Nancy

Medieval diminutive of Ann and Agnes. Compare Betsy, Patsy.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy:
But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love forever.

"And they've got lovely names, too. You'll like their names," sighed Nancy. "They're 'Algernon' and 'Florabelle' and 'Estelle'. I - I just hate Nancy!" "Oh, Nancy, what a dreadful thing to say! Why?" "Because it isn't pretty like the others. You see, I was the first baby, and mother hadn't begun ter read so many stories with the pretty names in them, then."

1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC:

There are many Nancies and Jerries in the world. They get told apart by a further name, such as Nancy Lovelace, or Jerry Turing.

2003, Ira Pohl, “Nested Classes”, in C# by Dissection: The Essentials of C# Programming, Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 249:


Nanny

A diminutive of the female given names Ann or Anne.


Nasal

An Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia


Ndebele

And look, that’s you a few years later, holding up a package at a prize-giving ceremony — throughout primary you always came first in English and Ndebele class.

2022, NoViolet Bulawayo, Glory, Chatto & Windus, page 191:

Any of the languages spoken by these two peoples: Northern Ndebele and the not closely related Southern Ndebele.


Ned

From rebracketing of the phrase mine Ed to my Ned.

But, sweet Ned, - to sweeten the name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

A medieval diminutive of the male given name Edward.


Nelly

A spelling variant of Nellie, a diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Helen, and Chanel.


Nick

His name is Nick. I love it. It makes him seem nice, and regular, which he is. When he tells me his name, I say, 'Now, that's a real name.'

2012, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, Phoenix, published 2013, →ISBN, pages 14–15:

A diminutive of the male given name Nicholas.

Niĉjo

Diminutive of the male given name Nicholas


Niki

Νίκη Νίκη#Greek

A transliteration of the Greek female given name Νίκη (Níki).


Noelle

From French Noëlle, the feminine form of the male given name Noël.

A female given name from French, often given to girls born near Christmas.


Norm

A diminutive of the male given name Norman.


Nova

Did you notice the dog which in the winter sports scenes is clasped in the arms of the child-star, Nova Pilbeam?

1935, Berta Ruck, A Story-Teller Tells the Truth, Hutchinson, page 266:

He murmurs to himself, "Her body is twenty-two, but she is in the infancy of a second life. I will call her Nova, the New One."

1951, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Mercury Press, page 71:


Nynorsk

From Norwegian nynorsk (“Modern Norwegian”, literally “New Norwegian”).

While 85-90% of Norwegians today use Bokmål as their written standard, Nynorsk is only used by about 10-15% of the population. Fosse’s English translator Damion Searls says many Nynorsk speakers see him “as a kind of national hero” for his championing of the language.

2023 October 5, Philip Oltermann, “Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

One of the two major written standards (language variants) of Norwegian.

նոր նորվեգերեն

one of the two major Norwegian (written) languages


Occidental

Occidental
Occidental language
Occidental, California

An artificial language, created by Edgar de Wahl later renamed Interlingue shortly before the publication of Interlingua

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Sonoma County, California, United States.


Ocean

From ocean (“sea”), inspired by the fashionable French female name Océane.

'Ocean still isn't sleeping through the night.' I don't blame her. She's probably traumatised by her ridiculous name.

2019 March 5, Elly Griffiths, The Stranger Diaries, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 25:

A female given name from English, of modern usage.


Ola

A female given name used in the U.S. in the end of the nineteenth century.


Olive

Medieval form of the Latin saint's name Oliva "olive"; revived in the 19th century when flower and plant names became fashionable. The surname is topographical, often representing an Anglicization of continental European surnames such as Spanish Oliva.

And hear me swear a solemn oath, / That only by thy side / Will I to Olive plight my troth, / And gain her for my bride.

"Elspie, I have a thought! The baby shall be christened Olive!"
"It's a strange, heathen name, Mrs. Rothesay."
"Not at all. Listen how I chanced to think of it. This very morning, just before you came to waken me, I had such a queer, delicious dream. [ - - - ] Then I looked up, after awhile, and saw standing at the foot of the bed a little angel—a child-angel—with a green olive-branch in its hand. [ - - - ] "

1850, Dinah Craik, Olive, Chapman and Hall, page 26:

There was Olive, a soft drowsy girl who didn't like me because I called her Olive Oyl. Even after I was made to apologize she didn't like me.

2006, Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, pages 227–228:

Powder River County
Powder River County#English

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Powder River County, Montana.

A town in Ulster County, New York, from the bible story of dove and olive branch.

An unincorporated community in Creek County, Oklahoma, from the girl's name.

Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County#English

An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.


Ora

Ora (countable and uncountable, plural Oras)

* (given name): First appeared in the 19th century when similar sounding names like Cora, Dora and Nora were in fashion. Possibly shortened from Aurelia, sometimes spelled Ora Lee, or, Aura Lea, in the American civil war song.
* (Italian commune): Borrowed from Italian Ora

Both ladies received me very graciously; but I was wholly unprepared for so much beauty as I discovered in Ora Doveton […]

1859, William Harrison Ainsworth, The Life and Adventures of Mervyn Clitheroe, J. Routledge, published 1858, page 179:

A diminutive of the female given name Aurelia, from Latin, variant of Aura. Mainly used in the U.S.A. in the latter half of the 19th century.


Oral

A male given name from Latin of American usage


Otto

en-prop

Otto (countable and uncountable, plural Ottos or Ottoes)

Translingual: Ottoia, Ottoiidae

From German Otto, from Old High German, short form of compound names beginning with Proto-West Germanic *aud, from Proto-Germanic *audaz (“wealth, riches”) (cognate of English Ed- in Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Edith, etc.).

der

That makes the case of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American college student who had been serving a 15-year sentence in North Korea, even more striking.

2017 June 14, Choe Sang-HunAustin Ramzy and Motoko Rich, “Otto Warmbier Got an Extra Dose of Brutality From North Korea. The Mystery Is Why.”, in The New York Times:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Ottoman

From Middle French Ottoman, from Medieval Latin Ottomanus, from Ottoman Turkish عثمان (osman), from the Arabic personal name عُثْمَان (ʕuṯmān). Osman is the Turkish spelling of the male Arabic given name Uthman, therefore the Ottoman Empire is sometimes referred to as the Osman Empire, Osmanic Empire, or Osmanian Empire, after Osman I.


Oz

etymid

various alterations of surnames or given names

A diminutive of the male given names Oscar, Oswald, or Osbourne.


Paddy

It is in this context of Irishphobia that the racist caricature of the drunken, violent, ignorant Paddy was established.

1996, Pierre L. Van Den Berghe, Ernest Cashmore, Ellis Cashmore, Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations, page 182:

(slang, sometimes offensive) An Irish person.


Pagan

Borrowed from Latin pāgānus (“rustic, rural”).

'I've always believed that one of the reasons she never named Pagan's father was to spare her a similar pain.' 'You don't know who he is?' 'No. And, at the risk of sounding like Candida, I'd give anything to find out.'

2011 April 19, Michael Arditti, Pagan and Her Parents, Arcadia Books, →ISBN:

In 2012, author Pagan Kennedy was hired by The New York Times magazine to write a column titled “Who Made That?” She began to hunt the people down behind inventions like sliced bread, the 3-D printer, and lipstick.

(Can we date this quote?), QuickRead, Lea Schullery, Inventology by Pagan Kennedy (Summary), QuickRead.com:


Page

en-proper noun

Page (countable and uncountable, plural Pages)

(rare) A male given name transferred from the surname.

Alternative form of Paige; A female given name.


Pam

The Senate voted Tuesday night to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, making the tenacious litigator the latest official to help fill out President Donald Trump’s administration.

2025 February 4, Shania Shelton and Morgan Rimmer, “Senate votes to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general”, in CNN:

A diminutive of the female given name Pamela.


Parmesan

/ˈpɑːmɪˌzæn/

/ˌpɑːmɪˈzæn/

/ˈpɑːməˌzən/


Pascal

Pascal (countable and uncountable, plural Pascals)

From Latin Paschālis, from paschālis (“Paschal; of or pertaining to Easter”), from pascha (“Easter”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives), for birth on Easter, or in honor of the 9th-century pope Paschal I (died 824). Doublet of Paschal. The programming language was named after French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).

(countable) A male given name from Latin used in medieval England; today occasionally borrowed from French.


Pat

A diminutive of the female given name Patricia.

One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.

2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN:

A diminutive of the male given name Patrick.


Pat

Various origins:
* Borrowed from Yucatec Maya Pat. This surname is mostly found in Yucatán.
* Borrowed from Khmer.


Patience

From patience, a virtue name first used by Puritans in the sixteenth century.

Meg had named it Patience. "But why?" he had exclaimed, not liking the name at all. "Patience is my favourite virtue," she had replied, "and we can call her Patty for short."

1929, Mazo de la Roche, Whiteoaks of Jalna, Dundurn Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 229:


Peach

* As an English surname, from French péché (“sin”). Compare Peachey, Petch.
* As a German surname, Americanized from Pietsch.


Pearl

Pearl (countable and uncountable, plural Pearls)

From pearl.
* (river in China): From Chinese 珠江 (Zhūjiāng, Zyu1 Gong1, “Pearl River”); calque of Chinese 珠 (zhū, zyu1, “pearl”).
* (haven in Hawaii): From Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”); calque of Hawaiian momi (“pearl”).

calque

A unisex given name from English.
A female given name from English.

A unisex given name from English.
(rare) A male given name from English.

A unisex given name from English.
A male given name from English.

Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother's only treasure!

1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Chapter VI”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

"What was your name?"
"Pearl." Ruby and Pearl, mother and daughter. "It's an ugly name, isn't it?"
"No, it isn't". And I meant it, it wasn't. "Old-fashioned, perhaps, but nice."
She stared at me. "Do you know what pearls are? They're ugliness: dirt or sand gets in an oyster and the oyster coats it over so that it won't be irritating."

1992, Karen Kijewski, Kat's Cradle, page 7:


Penny

A diminutive of the female given name Penelope.


Peta

(chiefly UK, Australia) A female given name from Ancient Greek.


Petra

A feminine form of Peter, identical with Late Latin petra (“stone”); came into regular use in the 19th century.


Petunia

(dated) A female given name from English.


Phantom

Nickname of the F-4B jet fighter flown by U.S. marines in Vietnam.


Phoebe

Borrowed from Latin Phoebē, from Ancient Greek Φοίβη (Phoíbē), feminine form of Φοῖβος (Phoîbos, “bright”).

Phœbe (alternative)
Phebe (alternative)
Phœbë (alternative)


Phoenix

From Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνῐξ (phoînĭx), Φοῖνῐξ (Phoînĭx).


Pierce

A male given name from Ancient Greek, medieval variant of Piers. Modern usage may also derive from the surname.


Pierre

The Ferraris pressed the self-destruct button, Lewis Hamilton lost his spot on the podium, and there were champagne moments for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr.

2019 November 17, Sarah Holt, “Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris collide AND Gasly and Sainz claim first F1 podiums”, in CNN:

A male given name from French, of occasional usage, equivalent to English Peter.


Pijin

Borrowed from Pijin Pijin, from English pidgin, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of business.

In full Solomon Islands Pijin, Solomon Pijin, or Solomons Pijin: a language spoken on the Solomon Islands, which is a form of Melanesian Pidgin.


Pinyin

20th c., from Mandarin Chinese 拼音 (pīnyīn, literally “spelled sounds”).

pinyin (alternative)
Pin-yin (alternative)
p'in-yin (alternative)

The Chinese government began using the new system Jan. 1 in all its foreign language publications, including the English-language service of the New China News Agency. This is an important source for American journalists writing about China. The United Nations and U.S. government agencies have adopted the new spellings called by the Chinese "Pinyin" meaning "phonetic spelling."[…]
The old spelling system, named the Wade-Giles system after the two 19th century Britons who developed it, made correct pronunciation unnecessarily difficult. It used apostrophes to distinguish aspirated consonants, such as p'ai pronounced with a "p" sound, from unaspirated, such as pai pronounced with a "b" sound. The new Pinyin system eliminates this distinction, which most newspapers ignored anyway. "Beijing" is much closer to the Chinese pronunciation that "Peking", and Vice Premier "Deng" is better rendering than "Teng." But the new system uses some letters in ways that still confuse English speakers. Thers difficult letters are: "c" which should be prounced in this system like the "ts" in "its"; "q" which should be pronounced like the "ch" in "cheek"; "x" which should be pronounced like the "sh" in "she"; and "zh" which should be pronounced like the "j" in "jump".[…]
Reading the alphabetized words still presents problems for the Chinese, however, because the spellings do not distinguish the flur separate tones in the Chinese language that can significantly change meaning. The word "ma" can mean "mother", "horse", or "scold", depending on what tone is used. Under the Pinyin system, two neighboring provinces of northern China are both spelled "Shanxi". In this special case, one of the provinces is now spelled "Shaanzi", to indicate a different tone in the first syllable.

1979 March 5, Jay Mathews, “China Is China, But Hangchow Is Hangzhou”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-29:

People’s Republic of China
People's Republic of China

A system of romanization for Standard Mandarin, used in the People’s Republic of China, and more recently in other Mandarin Chinese-speaking areas as well.


Pinyin

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Pinyin.

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

A phonetic script or romanization system for various languages spoken in the People's Republic of China, e.g. Tibetan


Pinyin

A Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.


Pip

My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.

1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC:

A diminutive form of the given names Philip, Phillip, and Philippa.


Piper

A female given name transferred from the surname, used since the mid-twentieth century, first by the American actress Piper Laurie.


Pole

A person from Poland or of Polish descent.

лях

now sometimes slightly derogatory or ironic


Poppy

"It is a very pretty name, Mma. I should like to be called Poppy."
The compliment drew a smile. "I used to be very embarrassed about it," said Poppy. "I used to try to hide my name from people. I thought it was a very silly name."
Mma Ramotswe shook her head. There was nothing embarrassing about the name Poppy, but there was no telling what names people would find embarrassing.

2006, Alexander McCall Smith, Blue Shoes and Happiness, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) A female given name from English, a flower name used since the end of the 19th century.


Poultry

Home of medieval feather dealers and stuffers.

A street in the City of London between Cheapside and Cornhill (at Bank).


Primrose

The surname derives from a place name in Fife, Scotland, from Brythonic words meaning "tree" + "moor", changed by folk etymology because of phonetic resemblance to primrose. The given name is one of the 19th-century flower names.

Mother said, "How do you like Primrose? It sounds fresh and pretty." Milly-Molly-Mandy thought it sounded a very nice name. - - - And then she decided, as the baby had come in the spring-time, it had better be Primrose.

1929, Joyce Lankester Brisley, chapter 8, in More of Milly-Molly-Mandy:

(rare, chiefly Britain) A female given name from English.


Prince

en-proper noun

Prince (countable and uncountable, plural Princes)

Prince Fielder hit another home run today.

Young Mr Turveydrop's name is Prince; I wish it wasn't, because it sounds like a dog, but he didn't christen himself. Old Mr Turveydrop had him christened Prince, in remembrance of the Prince Regent.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter XIV, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

A male given name from English in occasional use.


Putonghua

/ˌpuːtɒŋˈhwɑː/

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for 普通話／普通话 (Pǔtōnghuà, literally “common speech”).

zh-l

As a mainland China national, the counter for our trial was fluent in English, Putonghua, and the Sichuan dialect, and was familiar with a number of other major Chinese languages such as Cantonese and Hakka.

2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 10:

Standard Mandarin, the official language of the People's Republic of China; the state-designated national speech of the Han nationality using Beijing pronunciation as the standard pronunciation, Beijing speech as the basic dialect, and the model writing of the modern vernacular prose as the norm for grammar.

普通話 /普通话

the official language of the People's Republic of China — see also Mandarin


Ralph

From Middle English Radulf, from Old English Rǣdwulf (also as Raulf), from Proto-West Germanic *Rādawulf, from Proto-Germanic *Rēdawulfaz. Reinforced by similar forms brought to England, e.g. Old Norse Ráðúlfr, then in the Norman form Old French Radulf, Radulph. For the sense relating to vomiting, see ralph.

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone

There were none fine but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory: / The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

Regarding the correct pronunciation, especially of the name Ralph: according to a friend at the BBC, the possibilities of this name - either aristocratic 'Rafe' or vulgar, almost Australasian 'Ralff' - lie in its potential for wilful mispronunciation against type. I saw him cast confusion into an over-confident studio guest by introducing him as 'Sir Rafe Halpern'. This was nothing to the consternation, almost disintegration of the personality, of the artistic, aloof actor brought on as 'Rolf Fiennes' ('Fiennes', naturally, pronounced superbly).

1998 The Spectator, 7 March 1998, page 55 ("Dear Mary...")

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Randy

A diminutive of the male given names Randall or Randolph, used as a male given name in the US.

A diminutive of the female given name Miranda.


Raven

I want you to do a background check on a woman named Raven Anderson. Waist-length black hair, violet eyes, tall, striking. Late twenties, I'd say.

1987, Kay Hooper, Raven on the Wing, page 33:

Raven-Symoné and Anneliese van der Pol will reprise their roles as best friends Raven Baxter and Chelsea Daniels.

2017 April 5, Lisa Respers France, “'That's So Raven' sequel is happening”, in CNN Entertainment:

A female given name from English for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.

Raven Allen — Originally from the Zone, he becomes a member of the Psi:Ko when he is kidnapped with his brothers by trackers.

2013, Natsuya Uesugi, grydscaen, page 9:

A community in Red Deer County, Alberta, Canada, possibly named after the Raven River.

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Knott County, Kentucky.


Ray

* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond.
* Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe.
* Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye.
* As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae.
* As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray.
* As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”).
* As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

-, or Raymond if it happened to be a boy, choosing it in the hope that a name like Ray would make a boy's life easier.

1980, Wright Morris, Plains Song, for Female Voices, Harper&Row, →ISBN, page 113:

Although the name on his birth certificate was spelled "Ray", Ray said he was originally given the name "Rae" after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side.

2005, Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 12:

A diminutive of the male given name Raymond, also used as a formal given name.

'Rachel told me―' 'Call her Ray. She hates Rachel.'

2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 271:

A diminutive of the female given name Rachel, more often spelled Rae.

A census-designated place in Coosa County, Alabama.

An unincorporated community in Fremont Township, Steuben County, Indiana and Branch County, Michigan.

Koochiching County
Koochiching County#English

An unincorporated community in Koochiching County, Minnesota.


Read

English and Scottish surname, variant of Reed.

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Red

A nickname given to someone who has or had red hair.


Reed

* As an English and Scottish surname, from the adjective red.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English rēodan (“to clear out”), from Proto-West Germanic *reudan.
* Also as an English surname, from several places in England, such as Reed, Lancashire (from Old English ra (“roe deer”) or Rede, Suffolk (see Rede).
Compare Rider, Reader.

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.


Reg

A diminutive of the male given name Reginald.


Regina

/ɹɪˈd͡ʒaɪ.nə/

/ɹɪˈd͡ʒi.nə/

Derived from Latin rēgīna (“queen”). The given name originally referred to the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven. The Canadian city was named for Queen Victoria, as suggested by Princess Louise. Doublet of rani.

Of course, her name isn't really 'Ree-Jane'; it's Regina Jane Davidow. I have always thought the name itself rather wonderful and am only sorry it belongs to her.

1996, Martha Grimes, Hotel Paradise, Headline, →ISBN, page 5:


Rex

Rex Lex (meaning that the King is the law)

Lex Rex (meaning that the King is not absolute but subject to the law)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
Proto-Italic *rēks
Latin rēxbor.
English Rex
From Latin rēx (“king”). Doublet of rajah and roy.

etymon

A male given name from Latin coined in the nineteenth century from Latin rex "king," rarely given today.


Rhea

A female given name from Ancient Greek in occasional use.


Rich

From Richard. The surname also derives from rich as a nickname.

A diminutive of the male given name Richard.


Rick

A diminutive of the male given name Richard, or sometimes of related names, such as Ricardo.


Ridley

Place names in England, Old English hrēad (“reeds”) or rydde (“cleared land”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Thus, equivalent to reed or rid + -ley (“lea”).

A female given name transferred from the surname, of rare usage.


Rik

Alternative spelling of Rick (“male nickname, usually short for Richard”)


Rob

And in both cases, a man named Rob Monster – an outspoken born-again Christian and the CEO of a tech company called Epik – made pointed restorations, republishing much of the New Zealand content and putting Gab back online. All in the name, he said, of free speech.

2021 December 9, Rob Kuznia, Curt Devine and Yahya Abou-Ghazala, “Epik is a refuge for the deplatformed far right. Here’s why its CEO insists on doing it”, in CNN:

A diminutive of the male given name Robert.


Robin

* (masculine given name): From Middle English Robin, from Old French, diminutive of Robert
* (feminine given name): From the bird, robin
* (given name): From Germanic

They ſay hee is already in the Forreſt of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there liue like the old Robin Hood of England

c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 186, column 1:

This waly boy will be nae coof: /I think we'll call him Robin./ Robin was a rovin' boy, / Rantin', rovin', rantin', rovin', /Robin was a rovin' boy, / Rantin', rovin' Robin.

1785, Robert Burns, Rantin', Rovin' Robin:

Some names simply aren't appropriate after a while. Say you were called Robin, for instance. Well that's a perfectly good monicker up to the age of about nine, but pretty soon you'd have to do something about it, wouldn't you? Change your name by deed-poll to Samson, or Goliath, or something.

1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 12:

A male given name from the Romance languages or the Germanic languages.

"We'll name her Robin," her mother said, and it was as though at her words something of that spring and the bird's song and his gay and friendly and impudent spirit entered into the child.

1949, Adela Rogers St. John, Never Again, and Other Stories, Doubleday, page 25:

A female given name from the Germanic languages, also associated with the bird robin.


Rock

* As an English surname, from the noun rock. Compare Roach.
* Also as an English surname, misdivision of Middle English atter oke (“at the oak”). Compare Nock.
* As an English occupational surname, from Old Norse rokkr (“distaff”). Compare Rocker.
* As an Irish surname, translated from names like Mac Conchairge (“son of the hound of the rock”), from cú + carraig, see also McHarg.
* As a German surname Röck, variant of the personal name Rocco, see Roche.
* Also as a German surname, from the noun Rock (“skirt gown”).
* As a French surname, shortened from Roquebrune, Rocquebrune (see Rocque) or Larock.
Compare Roch.

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Cowley County, Kansas.


Rocky

en-proper noun

Rocky (countable and uncountable, plural Rockys)

‘I didn′t know your son′s name was Rocky,’ I quietly said as we started walking again.
‘It's really Richard. When he was a kid we called him Ricky, which somehow turned into Rocky. Some people call him Rocco. He gets called a lot of things.’

1995, Patricia Cornwell, From Potter′s Field, Berkeley Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 82:

A diminutive of the male given names Rocco, Roch, or Rock.


Rod

Abbreviated form of Rodney and of Roderick, both with roots originating from Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame”).

President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was sent to prison on corruption charges surrounding his time in office.

2025 February 10, Michael Williams, “Trump pardons former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich”, in CNN:

A nickname for the male given names Rodney and Roderick.


Roger

From Old French Rogier, from the Frankish equivalent of Old English Hrōþgār (see Hroðgar), from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþigaizaz (“fame-spear”). Compare also Rutger.

By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir / To Roger, Earl of March, who was the son / Of Edmund Mortimer.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

Pringle didn't say anything about Roger always being called Hodge. He sensed that Mr. Liddon wouldn't call him Hodge any more than he would call him Pringle. He was right. "Parents well, are they, Peregrine?" - - -
Hodge capered about, his thumbs in his ears and his hand flapping. "Tweet, tweet, mad bird. His master chains him up like a dog. Tweet, tweet, birdie!" "I'd rather be a hunting falcon than Roger the lodger the sod," said Pringle.

1985, Ruth Rendell, The New Girlfriend: The Fen Hall, pages 124, 127:

Details of Thunberg’s charge came as Just Stop Oil said its cofounders, Indigo Rumbelow and Roger Hallam, were arrested on Wednesday morning following dawn raids at their homes.

2023 October 18, Damien Gayle, “Greta Thunberg charged with public order offence after London oil protest”, in The Guardian:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Roman

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.

‘Is it like―I don’t know―Catholicism? One only spots the other Romans when one’s practised it oneself?’

2006, Sarah Waters, The Night Watch, Virago Press, page 151:


Roman

A male given name from Latin recently borrowed from continental Europe.


Romance

From Old French romanz (“vernacular language (of France)”), from Late Latin rōmānicē, from Latin rōmānicus < rōmānus + -icus. Extended in the 17th century to all languages derived from Latin.

uder

In this paper we will concentrate on the problem posed by Iberian Romance languages (i.e. Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish), …

Eulàlia Bonet and Joan Mascaró, On the representation of contrasting rhotics, in: 1997, Fernando Martínez-Gil, Alfonso Morales-Front (eds.), Issues in the Phonology and Morphology of the Major Iberian Languages, p. 103ff., here p. 103

Of or dealing with languages or cultures derived from Roman influence and Latin: French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, etc.

roman

of or dealing with languages or cultures derived from Roman influence and Latin


Rosa

Mercedes moved away from Jack and gripping Rosa's hand – her own nails were too short – she took a pinch and inhaled it. Rosa kissed Mercedes on the lips then took a further nailful and offered it to Jack who shook his head.

A female given name from Latin; a Latinized variant of Rose.


Rose

* As an English, Scottish, French, Walloon, Danish, Jewish (Yiddish רויז (royz)), and German surname, all from the noun rose. Also adapted from foreign forms of the same meaning such as Hungarian Rózsa, Rozsa, Slovak Róža, Czech Roza, etc. Compare Larose. The surname may be matronymic, but more probably topographic from residence by rose bushes or the sign of a rose, or a nickname from rosy complexion.
* Also as an English surname, from a Norman name of Germanic origins, likely made up of Proto-Germanic *hrod (“fame”) and *heid (“kind, sort, type”), ultimately evolved from *hrōþiz. Introduced to England in the form Roese or Rohese.
* As an English and Scottish surname, variant of Ross.
* As a Slovene surname, Americanized or Italianized from Rože, from a short form of Erazem (from Latin Erasmus), compare Rozman.

Celia: Therefore, my sweet Rose, my dear Rose, be merry.
Rosalind. From henceforth I will, coz, and devise sports.

Sentiment hallows the vowels of Delia; /Sweet simplicity breathes from Rose;

~1886 William Ernest Henley, A Ballade of Ladies' Names, Gleeson White:Ballades and Rondeaus, Read Books 1887, page 19

An aunt had arrived and her name was Rose and you could hear her voice clarion clear above the others, and you could imagine her warm and huge as a hothouse rose, exactly like her name, filling any room she sat in.

1957, Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine, Avon Books, published 1999, →ISBN, page 248:

Rose Ducton. Rosie Ducton. Philippa Rose Palfrey. A row of books with Rose Ducton on the spine. - - - Rose. It didn't even suit her. It was a name in a catalogue: Peace, Scarlet Wonder, Albertine. She had thought that she had got used to the knowledge that nothing about her was real, not even her name.

1980, P. D. James, Innocent Blood, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 170:


Rosemary

/ˈɹəʊzˌmɛːɹi/

/ˈɹoʊzˌmɛəɹi/

A combination of Rose + Mary, referring to the flower as a symbol of Virgin Mary, first recorded in the eighteenth century. It is found in continental Europe as Rosemarie and Rosa Maria. After mid-nineteenth century when flower names became common it may also refer to the herb rosemary, Latin ros marinus "dew of the sea".

"And you - you darling!" - addressing the astonished Rosemary - "will you love your grandmamma? Kiss me, my child." - - -
"Oh, you tell fibs!" cried the child. "My name is Rose Marie Romarin - is it not, Grandpa?"

1860, Jedediah Vincent Huntington, Rosemary: or, Life or Death, D.&J. Sadler, Co, published 1860, page 175:

Rosemary. A sweet dark name, though finally a shrill trite woman.

1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN, page 53:


Rube

A diminutive of the male given name Reuben.


Ruby

The female name derives from ruby in the 19th century.

And those are her two daughters, Opal and Ruby. Her husband, Joshua, named them. He said they were to be the jewels of his old age. She would never have thought of names like that. There wasn't an ounce of sentiment in her body.

1992, Karen Kijewski, Kat's Cradle, page 76:

United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands

A settlement on the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.


Rufus

A male given name from Latin, used since the seventeenth century.


Rush

en-proper noun

Rush (countable and uncountable, plural Rushs or Rushes)

* As an English surname, from the noun rush (“waterside plant, plant in marshes”).
* Also as an English surname, from the archaic noun rush (“beehive”), from French ruche.
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Ruis (literally “descendant of Ros”), a name from ros (“wood”). Sometimes also translated from Ó Luachra due to confusion with luachair (“rushes”), see Loughrey.
* Also as an Irish surname, translated/Anglicized from Ó Fuada (literally “descendant of Fuada”), compare Foody, from the noun fuad (“haste”).
* As a German surname, Americanized from Rüsch, Ruesch, Rusch.


Ruth

From Ruth the Moabite, Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "companion". Also associated with the English noun ruth (“compassion”) by Puritans.

Her face hardened.
"I despise pity."
"In spite of your name? Ruth is your name, isn't it? Piquant that. Ruth the ruthless."

1945, Agatha Christie, Sparkling Cyanide, HarperCollins, published 2010, →ISBN, page 30:

He pictured the woman as dark and Biblical, because of her name: Ruth. Shadowed eyes and creamy skin. Torrents of loose black hair.

1982, Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Fawcett Columbine, published 1996, →ISBN, page 134:

Ρούθ

in texts which don't use spiritus for capital letters at all


Saffron

The bad thing was she took my son Skiff with her. It's a dumb name I know, but at the time he was born all the kids were being called things like Sky and Saffron and Powie, and I was really sold on sailing.

1981, William Boyd, On the Yankee Station, Hamilton, →ISBN, page 17:

A female given name from English; a rare flower name from the saffron.


Saga

Saga Becker

2007, Saga McOdongo, Deadly money maker

[…] Saga Norén's personal story that forms the series' sentimental narrative. As part of her strategy to develop ways to understand the personal motivations of the killers and other people around her, Saga Norén actively uses her partners[…]

2019 January 28, Dimitris Akrivos, Alexandros K. Antoniou, Crime, Deviance and Popular Culture: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Springer, →ISBN, page 34:


Sage

en-proper-noun

Sage (countable and uncountable, plural Sages)

* As an English and French surname, from sage, a nickname for a wise person. The given name, in general use since the 1990s, is also associated with the sage plant. Compare Desage, Lesage.
* As an Irish surname, variant of Savage.
* As a German surname, from a placename derived from the noun sege (“sedge”) (see sedge).

She wanted to give the child a unique, meaningful name; among those she and Linda liked, she said, were Laurel and Lavender. Or if it was a boy, perhaps Sage . “Why not Spinach or Cabbage?” Brian had scoffed.

1974, Alison Lurie, The War Between the Tates: A Novel, Open Road Media, published 2012, →ISBN:

(Wicca) One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca, representing a man, older than a middle-aged Father and boyish Master

An unincorporated community in Izard County, Arkansas, United States.

A census-designated place in Riverside County, California, United States.

Riverside County
Riverside County#English

An unincorporated community in Burnet County, Texas, United States.


Said

Sa'id (alternative)
Saeed (alternative)
Saïd (alternative)
Sayeed (alternative)


Sal

Indeed what do the tensomethings, who might be watching the show at that hour, make of jokes like Joey telling Chandler that his uncle Sal has a really big tongue.

1996, Television Quarterly: The Journal of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, volume XXVIII, number 3, page 4:

A diminutive of the male given names Samuel or Salvador.

A diminutive of the female given name Sally.


Salina

Uncertain, possibly a variant of, or a coinage inspired by, Selina. The place name seems an unlikely source.


Sally

A diminutive lambdacism of Sarah. Compare Hal from Harry and Moll from Mary.

She submitted―for what alternative did she have?―to being Sally in this family, but she always signed herself, Sarah.

1969, Doris Lessing, The Four-Gated City, Bantam Books, published 1970, page 114:

Maybe her first name was Sally, but David thought he would have remembered a name like that; there were so few Sallys these days. Now the world belonged to Ambers, Ashleys, and Tiffanys.

2008, Stephen King, Just After Sunset, Simon and Schuster, published 2009, →ISBN, page 8:

A diminutive of the female given name Sarah, also used as a formal given name.


San

As a synonym of Bushmen introduced into ethnology from the 1960s, from Khoekhoe saan (singular saa) "foragers; people without wealth", via back-formation of Khoisan. Occasional citation as the Nama term for "Bushmen" from the 1880s.

(regionally, offensive, ethnic slur) Any of the foraging non-Bantu ethnic groups of southwestern Africa.


Sandy

Sandi (alternative)
Sandie (alternative)

Sandy (given name)
Sandy, Bedfordshire
Sandy, Carmarthenshire

A diminutive of the male given names Alexander, Sander, Alasdair, Sandeep, Sanford, or Santiago.

A diminutive of the female given names Sandra, Alexandra, or Cassandra.


Sandy

Domesday Book
Sandy (given name)
Sandy, Bedfordshire
Sandy, Carmarthenshire

* (Bedfordshire) Recorded as Sandeie in the Domesday Book, the town is named with Old English sand (“sand”) + īeġ (“island”).
* (Carmarthenshire) From Welsh sant + dŷ (“house of the saint”)

Central Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire#English

A market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire, England (OS grid ref TL1649).

A settlement in Llanelli Rural community, Carmarthenshire, Wales, just west of Llanelli town (OS grid ref SN4900).


Sango

Central African Republic
Central African Republic

The primary language spoken in the Central African Republic: it has 5 million second-language speakers, but only 400,000 native speakers, mainly in the towns.


Sapphire

I asked her once how a little girl who didn't have blue eyes ended up being called Sapphire. She pursed her lips for a few seconds, clearly wondering how she could get away with not telling me.
'My older brother is called Mistral,' she said in the end. 'My younger sister is Blaze. I'd say I was the lucky one.'
As I say, hippy parents.

2015, Sharon Bolton, Little Black Lies, Corgi Books, →ISBN, page 179:

A female given name from English from the precious stone.


Savanna

A female given name transferred from the place name, of modern usage, variant of Savannah.


Savannah

The cities are named after the Savannah River, possibly derived from Shawnee or Algonquian.

A female given name transferred from the place name.

"I kind of like Bianca. And Chelsea. And Courtney."
Elise gave it some thought. " Those are nice names." She nodded.
"What do you think about Savannah?" Audrey asked. " Then I could be Savannah from Savannah."

A female given name, from the word savannah.


Scotch

Contraction of Scottish.
The chess opening is supposedly after its having been played in a correspondence game between Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England.

But Rob was just saying what a shame it was that folk should be shamed nowadays to speak Scotch – or they called it Scots if they did, the split-tongued sourocks!

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 156:

(dated) The Scottish dialect of English.

The Scotch are a hardy bunch.


Scotch

en-noun

Scotch (countable and uncountable, plural Scotches)

Paul has drunk a lot of Scotch.

(uncountable) Whisky distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.


Scotch

Behind all his assumed unsocialism there lay a true warm heart; nor could anything be kindlier than the welcome which, whenever they did come to him, any of his Scotch relatives received.

1801, William Hanna, Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Chalmers, page 422:

our landlord informed us, with a sort of apologetic tone, that there was a Scotch gentleman to dine with us.


Sean

Seans (plural)
Shaun (alternative)
Shawn (alternative)
Shohn (alternative)

Sian (female given name, cot–caught merger, father-bother merger)

Anglicised form of Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Johannes, variant of Ioannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān, literally “God is gracious”).
Doublet of John, Jack, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Ian, Evan, Ivan, Shaun, Shane, and Giovanni.

doublet

They sit by the fire smoking and talking about names. Mam says she likes the names Kevin and Sean but Bridey says, Ah no, there's too many of them in Limerick. Jesus, Angela, if you stuck your head out of the door and called, Kevin or Sean, come in for your tea, you'd have half o' Limerick running to your door.

1996, Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes, Harper Collins Publishers., →ISBN, page 203:


Sel

A diminutive of the female given name Selena.


Serene

The Prince according to the former token, / Which faire Serene to him delivered had, […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18:

A female given name from English. A rare variant of Serena.


Serenity

A female given name from English in general use since the 1990s.


Shay

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.

A diminutive of the male given name Seamus.


Sheila

Anglicized spelling of Síle, the Irish form of Cecilia. Doublet of Cecilia.

Shelagh (alternative)
Sheelagh (alternative)
Sheilagh (alternative)
Sheela (alternative)
Sile (alternative)

Were English girls not good enough for him that he must needs come up and take away Sheila Mackenzie, and keep her there in the South.

1874, William Black, A Princess of Thule, Adamant Media Corporation, →ISBN, page 295:

What lovely names for girls there are! / There's Stella like the Evening Star, / And Sylvia like a rustling tree, / And Lola like a melody, / And Flora like a flowery morn, / And Sheila like a field of corn,

1933, Eleanor Farjeon, “Girls' Names”, in Over the Garden Wall, Faber and Faber, page 91:

He shortened her name to Sheila which, in spite of its primness, she seemed to love. - - - For Susheela - Sheila, as she was now known - this creeping daylight signalled the start, not the end of sleep.

2008, Helen Walsh, Once Upon a Time in England, →ISBN:


Shell

A diminutive of the female given name Michelle.


Sherry

Sherrys (plural)
Cheri (alternative)
Sheri (alternative)
Sherri (alternative)

A female given name from English, from the sherry wine, or a variant of Cheri.


Si

From clipping of various words beginning with the syllable /saɪ/.

A diminutive of the male given name Simon.

A diminutive of the male given name Silas.


Sibyl

Latin Sibylla, Ancient Greek Σίβυλλα (Síbulla, “sibyl”), name of ancient Greek prophetesses.

uder

Sybil (alternative)
Sybill (alternative)
Cybil (alternative)
Cybill (alternative)

Be she as foul as Florentius' love, / As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd / As Socrates' Xanthippe, or worse, / She moves me not.


Sicilian

From Latin Sicilia + -an. By surface analysis, Sicily + -an.


Sienna

A female given name from English of modern usage from the sienna colour.


Sierra

A female given name of modern American usage, from the Spanish noun, confused with Ciara and Sarah.


Silver

As a surname, anglicised from the German Jewish ornamental surname Silber.

" - - - I'll level with you, Mr. Cummings."
"Silver", he corrected.
"Sounds like the Lone Ranger's horse," she said.

1993, Ed McBain, Mischief, William Morrow and Co., →ISBN, page 67:

"Silver here, my darling wife, insists on the services of a particular yacht upholsterer. - - - " From the way he said the woman's metal name Quayle thought it was changed from a stodgier "Alice" or "Bernice".

1993, Annie Proulx, Shipping News, Fourth Estate, →ISBN, page 121:

A unisex given name from English from the metal, or transferred from the surname.


Sissy

‘Sissy is not a name,’ said Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Don’t call yourself Sissy. Call yourself Cecilia.’
‘It’s father as calls me Sissy, sir,’ returned the young girl in a trembling voice, and with another curtsey.

1854, Charles Dickens, “Book I, Chapter II”, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC:

“He'd give the store away if Sissy and I let him,” said Dreama.

2013, Lee Martin, Southern Psalms, page 70:

A diminutive of the female given name Cecilia.


Slav

From Middle English sclave, borrowed from Medieval Latin Sclavus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry for more. Doublet of slave and ciao. Displaced native Old English Wined.

(British, birdwatching) The Slavonian grebe.


Smith

en-proper noun

Smith (countable and uncountable, plural Smiths)

Smiths (plural)
Smithe (alternative)
Smyth (alternative)
Smythe (alternative)

⇒ Translingual: smithi, smithii

From smith or Middle English Smith (“a surname”), alternative form of Smyth, itself from smyth (“smith”). Doublet of Schmidt, Smid, and Smit.

Nallbani

surnames derived from the equivalents of “smith”

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Sol

Sol (named after the solar eclipse on the day of his birth) was born in March 2015 with an undetected clot in his upper left arm.

2017 March 1, Marc Waddington, “How dad’s bionic arm invention is changing son’s life & prosthetics”, in Daily Post, № 51,073, page 6/2:


Sol

“Chock full o’ science,” said the radiant Captain, “as ever he was! Sol Gills, Sol Gills, what have you been up to, for this many a long day, my ould boy?”

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

A diminutive of the male given name Solomon.


Soma

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Sooner

Coordinate term: Boomer

Some skunk of a Sooner, sneaking in ahead of the Run, had set the blaze to keep the Boomers off, saving the land for himself.

(historical) One who crossed into Indian territory before the official opening of settlement in the Oklahoma land rush, in order to obtain land sooner.


Sorb

Borrowed from German Sorbe, from Lower Sorbian Serb, the self-appointed name. Doublet of Serb.

A member of a Slavic people living in Lusatia in eastern Germany.


Stan

Stan (countable and uncountable, plural Stans)

Stan Jessop taught at a different school now but lived in the same small 1930s semi-detached as he had done ten years ago. Stan made him sound like an old allotment guy but he was only thirty-six.

2010, Kate Atkinson, Case Histories: (Jackson Brodie), Random House, →ISBN, page 307:

A diminutive of the male given name Stanley.

A diminutive of the male given name Stanislav.


Star

* As a German and Jewish surname, from Star (“starling”).
* Also as a German and Jewish surname, semantic loan from German Stern (“star”).
* As a Dutch surname, from star (“stiff, rigid”).
* As a Slovene surname, from star (“old”).
* As an English given name, from star, sometimes originating as a nickname.

semantic loan

Emily Byrd Starr — Starr should be your first name. You look like a star—you have a radiant sort of personality shining through you— ... I think I shall call you Star.

1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Emily Starr Series; All Three Novels: Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs and Emily's Quest, Read Books Ltd, →ISBN:

Stella was always an original. I don't think she went on to university but I'm sure she's doing something interesting with her life. She calls herself Star now.

2019 February 7, Elly Griffiths, The Stone Circle: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 11, Hachette UK, →ISBN:


Stella

What lovely names for girls there are! / There's Stella like the Evening Star,


Stew

A diminutive of the male given name Stewart.


Strand

en-proper noun

Strand (countable and uncountable, plural Strands)

So called after the north strand (i.e. shore) of the river Thames.

(as "the Strand") A street in Westminster running from Trafalgar Square to Fleet Street.


Su

"I am sure nobody would mind," said Susan; "it isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe." "I never thought of that, Su," said Peter.

1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Fontana Lions, published 1980, →ISBN, page 54:

A diminutive of the female given name Susan and of its variant forms.


Sue

A diminutive of the female given name Susan and of related female given names; popular as a middle name.


Summer

(countable) A female given name from English of modern usage, from summer, the name of the season, often given to girls born in summer.


Svan

A South Caucasian language of Caucasian Georgia, related to Georgian, Laz, and Mingrelian.


Swede

From Middle Low German Swêde, from a Germanic word akin to Old Norse Svíþjóð, Old English Swēoþēod (“Sweden”, literally “Swede nation”), itself from Swēo (“Swede”), from Proto-Germanic *swihô (“Swede”). Cognate with Dutch Zweed, German Schwede. Doublet of suede.

cog

(historical) A member of an ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited central Sweden

Svear

member of the ancient North Germanic tribe


Sy

(astronomy) Abbreviation of Seyfert galaxy., a type of AGN class of active galaxy.


Sy

Philippine Hokkien
Philippine Spanish
Seyfert galaxies

From Philippine Spanish Sy, from Philippine Hokkien 施 (Si). Doublet of See, Sze, Siy, and Shi.

A Chinese Filipino surname from Spanish [in turn from Hokkien]


Tad

A diminutive of the male given name Thaddeus or Thaddaeus.


Tammy

A diminutive of Tamsin and Tamara, later also used for new names beginning with Tam such as Tamika and Tamiya.

Tammi (alternative)
Tammie (alternative)

Wish I knew if he knew
What I'm dreaming of
Tammy, Tammy, Tammy's in love.

1957, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Tammy (song):

A female given name popular in the 1960s and the 1970s.


Tanner

A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.


Tash

A diminutive of the female given name Natasha.


Tat

Ultimately from Proto-Turkic *tāt (“alien, stranger, pagan”).

der

A southwestern Iranian language spoken by the Tat people.


Teddy

She said, “You indicated little Teddy's become quite a handful.” “Theodore,” said Christopher. “God, whatever you do, don't call him Teddy.”

2013 April 12, Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge: The Beloved Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

A diminutive of the male given names Edward or Theodore, or of their diminutives Ted and Tedd.


Terra

From Latin Terra (“goddess of the earth; the land itself”).


Terry

Tarry (alternative)
Torry (alternative)
Teri (alternative)
Terri (alternative)
Terrie (alternative)

A surname originating as a patronymic from the medieval Norman given name Thierry, a cognate of the English Derek.

A male given name from the Germanic languages transferred back from the surname, or a diminutive of Terence or of any of its alternative forms.

A male given name from Latin derived from the Latin for the third ("tertius") given to a third child or a child whose name has the suffix III.

A female given name, diminutive of Teresa or any of its alternative forms.

A number of places in the United States:

West Carroll Parish
West Carroll Parish#English

An unincorporated community in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana.


Tewa

Tewas (plural)
Tewa (plural)
Tegua (alternative)
Tehua (alternative)

Borrowed from Spanish Tegua, Tehua, from Tewa Tewa or Hopi Teewa.

A member of an indigenous people of New Mexico and Arizona.


Tewa

The traditional language of the Tewa people.


Tewa

Teiwa (alternative)
Tegua (alternative)
Tehua (alternative)

A Trans-New Guinea language of Indonesia.


Tia

Invented in the latter half of the twentieth century. It can be explained as a short form of Letitia or Venetia, or from Estonian Tiia, pet form of Dorothea.


Tiara

A female given name from English from the noun tiara


Tigre

Təgre (alternative)
Tigrē (alternative)
Tegrē (alternative)

A Semitic language of northern Eritrea, closely related to Tigrinya.


Tilly

Tilly's name is Matilda. It was typical of Mum and Dad that they wouldn't let her be called Tilly when she came to them because that was the unusual shortening of Matilda, the unconventional one, and you never did unconventional things, you never did things to draw attention to yourself. So they called her Matty.

1990, Barbara Vine, Gallowglass, Curley Pub, published 1991, →ISBN, page 24:

A diminutive of the female given name Matilda.


Titian

Anglicized form of Italian Tiziano, from Latin Titiānus.


Toby

The Middle English vernacular form of Tobias.

By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o' nights: your cousin, my lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

And for my own part, said my uncle Toby, though I should blush to boast of myself, Trim - yet had my name been Alexander, I could have done no more at Namur than my duty.

1761, [Laurence Sterne], chapter 18, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume IV, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC:

His name was Toby Bell and he was entirely alone in his criminal contemplations. [ - - - ] As to the Toby, which might by the sound of it set him higher on the English social ladder than his provenance deserved, it derived from nothing more elevated than his father's pride in the holy man Tobias, whose wondrous filial virtues are set down in the ancient scripts.

2013, John le Carré, A Delicate Truth, Penguin UK, →ISBN:


Todger

Will you box Todger Fairmile if I put him on to you?

1905, George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara:

"TODGER" - it hardly seems a name
To claim a place on the scroll of fame;
'Tis a hero's name, all the same.
He's Thomas A. Jones officially,
But "Todger" is the name that he goes by

1917, William Hathorn Mills, War-ballads and Verses:


Tom

→ Tokelauan: Toma

From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas.

Poor Tom's a-cold.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

"Good,—that's a whack. What's your name?"
"Becky Thatcher. What's yours? Oh, I know. It's Thomas Sawyer."
"That's the name they lick me by. I'm Tom when I'm good. You call me Tom, will you?"

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 70:

What I'm worrying about is what Tom says when he starts talking."
"Uncle Tom?"
"I wish there was something else you could call him except 'Uncle Tom'," said Aunt Dahlia a little testily. "Every time you do it, I expect to see him turn black and start playing the banjo."

1934, P. G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves:

"We're not sure - we were expecting a girl for some reason. But we're thinking of something simple like Tom."
"Thomas?"
"No, just Tom."

2008, David Park, The Truth Commissioner, →ISBN, page 366:

At the heart of much of the controversy surrounding DOGE’s review and access to much of the federal government’s financial payment data was the unique pairing of Tom Krause, a long-time software CEO, and Marko Elez, a 25-year-old recent employee at Musk’s company SpaceX.

2025 February 7, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Curt Devine, Majlie de Puy Kamp and Rene Marsh, “‘Second American Revolution’: The team behind DOGE’s government overhaul”, in CNN:

A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name.


Tone

A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony


Tonto

From Spanish tonto (“fool, idiot”), the Spanish name for the tribe, a calque of Western Apache kounʼnde (“wild rough people”). The fictional character (described as Comanche or Potawatomi) either from Potawatomi or named after Tonto Basin, Arizona.


Trinity

A female given name from English used since the 1970s, from the religious term trinity, or translated from its long-established Spanish equivalent.


Tucker

en-prop

Tucker (countable and uncountable, plural Tuckers)

Tucker Carlson (also a jacket and tie guy) picked up on the hoo-ha on his Fox News show, calling the hoodie-jacket combination a “cry for help” and inviting Roger Stone, the disgraced former political operative and author of his own “Best and Worst dressed List,” to comment.

2023 February 20, Vanessa Friedman, “Don Lemon, Nikki Haley and the Lessons of a Hoodie”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.


Turner

en-proper noun

Turner (countable and uncountable, plural Turners)

From Middle English Turner, Turnur, Turnure, Turnour, from Middle English turner, turnare, tornere, an occupational surname for a turner or tumbler.


Tuscan

From Middle English Tuscan, from Late Latin Tuscānus (“belonging to the Tusci”), a people of ancient Italy, from Tuscus, earlier *Truscus, shortened form of Etruscus (“Etruscan”).

der

Of or relating to Tuscany or its inhabitants.

тоскански

of or relating to Tuscany or its inhabitants

(architecture) Belonging to the simplest of the five classical orders of architecture, being a Roman modification of the Doric style, with unfluted columns, and without triglyphs.


Tuscan

en-noun

Tuscan (countable and uncountable, plural Tuscans)

A local variety of Italian spoken in Tuscany, on which Standard Italian is largely based.


Ty

Clipping of Tyrone, Tyler, Tyson, Tyron, and other male given names beginning with "Ty".

clipping

A diminutive of the male given name Tyrone, Tyler, Tyson, Tyron, and other male given names beginning with "Ty".


Tánaiste

From Irish tánaiste (“second-in-command, tanist”). Doublet of tanist.

bor

On Thursday, the tánaiste, or deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, described the personal abuse directed at lawmakers and their staff as “absolutely vile” and said some of the behaviour was “fascist-like”, Irish media reported.

2023 September 21, Emma Graham-Harrison, “Alarm over ‘fascist-like’ protest at Ireland’s seat of government”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland


Udmurt

From Russian удму́рт (udmúrt), from Udmurt удмурт (udmurt).

A Finnic language spoken in Udmurtia, a republic of Russia.

烏德穆爾特語 /乌德穆尔特语

Wūdémùěrtèyǔ


Udmurt

A member of the people inhabiting Udmurtia or speaking Udmurt.


Udmurt

Of or pertaining to Udmurts, Udmurtia, or the Udmurt language.


Una

Anglicized form of Irish Úna. Doublet of Oona.

Who after that he had faire Una lorne, / Through light misdeeming of her loialtie, / And false Duessa in her sted had borne, […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 2:


Uno

Borrowed from Japanese 宇野 (Uno) or うの (Uno).


Urban

en-proper noun

Urban (countable and uncountable, plural Urbans)

Latin Urbānus, name of eight early popes, from urbānus (“of the town or city, urbane”). Doublet of Orban.

(uncommon) A male given name from Latin.


Val

And Publius Valerius became the baby's name, though it afterwards transpired that they had got hold of the inferior Cato. In 1890, however, when little Publius was nearly ten, the word 'chic' went out of fashion, and sobriety came in; Winifred began to have doubts. They were confirmed by little Publius himself, who returned from his first term at school complaining that life was a burden to him - they called him Pubby. Winifred - a woman of real decision - promptly changed his school and his name to Val, the Publius being dropped even as an initial.

1920, John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga: In Chancery:I: Chapter 2::

A male given name, a short form of Valentine and Valerius.

A female given name, a short form of Valerie and Valmai.


Val

“Vals are everywhere,” Miss Zappa said the other afternoon in a telephone interview from the Zappas' Hollywood Hills home. She also reported that Vals are “jealous of Brooke Shields and secretly want to go to New York.”

1982 September 15, Moon Zappa, quotee, “They're Clothes Crazy, Fer Sure; Valley Girls aren't just in California”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


Valentine

Valentine (countable and uncountable, plural Valentines)

From Latin Valentinus, from valeō (“I am strong, healthy”).

A male given name from Latin in quiet but steady use since the 16th century.

A female given name from Latin occasionally borrowed from French.

An English and Scottish surname derived from the male given name.

A number of places in the United States:

A census-designated place in Mohave County, Arizona.

An unincorporated community in Johnson Township, LaGrange County, Indiana.


Van

'Beautiful idea,' said Van as he helped Ada to heat the tank, fill the old battered bath and warm a couple of towels.

A diminutive of the male given names Vance, Ivan, or Evan.

Van Zandt County
Van Zandt County#English

A city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States.


Van

A diminutive of the female given name Vanessa.


Vandal

From Latin Vandalus, named after the Germanic tribe, from Proto-Germanic *wandilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ-eh₂-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Also related to Old English Wendlas.

der

An extinct East Germanic language ascribed to have been spoken by the Vandals.


Vera

Borrowed in the nineteenth century from the Russian virtue name Ве́ра (Véra, “faith”). By folk etymology it has also been explained as Latin vera (“true”).

Good night, my Vera. Mind, I shall always call you Vera. It sounds so Russian and nice, and is much prettier than Vere.

1880, Ouida, Moths, Elibron.com, published 2001, →ISBN, page 51:

I killed Vera Cross - - - .I had known her for about three months, and never ceased to wonder if her parents, when they gave her a name, had been totally illiterate or wilfully blasphemous.

1953 Eric Linklater, The House of Gair, J.Cape, page 214


Vi

FLO: What do you think of Vi?
RU: I see little change.

Vi would be home soon. Any minute, really.

A diminutive of the female given names Violet and Viola.


Victor

From a Late Latin personal name Victor, borne by several saints, from victor (“conqueror”). Doublet of victor.

'Well, it's your mother who chose Victor. I never liked the name. It sounded a bit like boasting. I think it was because you were born on May something or other when we celebrate the day Germans surrendered.' 'I wasn't. I was born in September.' 'Oh, then there must have been another reason. Perhaps she thought to have you at all was her victory. Over me. I wasn't so keen on a child.'

1988, Graham Greene, The Captain and the Enemy, Penguin Classics, published 1999, →ISBN:


Vin

Short form of the male given name Vincent.


Viola

Were you a woman as the rest goes even,
 I should my tears let fall upon your cheek,
 And say, ‘Thrice welcome, drowned Viola!’

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:


Violet

A 19th century flower name from violet, sometimes as an anglicisation of the earlier French Violette.

It may be as well to say, by way of parenthesis, that her real name was Violante,―at least, such was the name by which her mother had her christened. But her father thought it much too long, and said it was better to call her Violet.

1836, Marian Dora Malet Beasley, Violet Woodville, Carey, Lea & Blanchard, page 16:

Her Pakeha name was Violet, and everybody called her that because her Maori name was too long. And my Nanny, she was just like a violet; shy and small and hiding her face in her petals if the sun blazed too strong.

1972, Witi Ihimaera, Pounamu, Pounamu, Heinemann, →ISBN, page 111:

My name is Violet Brown. - - - If I sound colorful, I am not. It's nought but a pair of names, stamped on me by two people who never met. First, my mother. She was fond of romantic novels with "Violets" in them.

2009, Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 262:


Vote

From German Wote, ultimately from Votic vadʹdʹa, vadʹdʹalain (“Votian”). Compare Estonian vadjalane.

A person from Votia or of Votic descent.


Wade

In due time, Charles' son was born and, because it was fashionable to name boys after their fathers' commanding officers, he was called Wade Hampton Hamilton.

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter VII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Wal

A diminutive of the male given name Wally.

A diminutive of the male given name Wallace.

A diminutive of the male given name Walter.


Walker

en-prop

Walker (countable and uncountable, plural Walkers)


Ward

en-proper noun

Ward (countable and uncountable, plural Wards)

* As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc.
* As an Irish surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard (“son of the poet”).
* As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw. Comparable to Warszawski.
* As a French surname, Americanized from Guerin.


Warren

en-prop

Warren (countable and uncountable, plural Warrens)

From the Anglo-Norman surname (de) Warenne, a reference to a place called Varenne, a hamlet near Arques-la-Bataille, along the river Varenne in Normandy, from Medieval Latin Warinna, a hydronym of Celtic/Gaulish origin, from *var-, *ver- (“river, water”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer- (“water, rain, flow”); see also the Latin river Avara. Phonetic Germanic influence is shown by the [v] > [w].

der

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Wat

A medieval English given name, short for Walter or from the Anglo-Saxon name Watt.


Watt

A diminutive of the male given name Walter, of medieval usage, variant of Wat.


Whig

From Whiggamore, possibly from Scots whiggamore (“horse driver”), from whig (“to drive”) + mare.

whig

a member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party

(UK politics, historical) A member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party.

(UK politics, rare) A member (especially a politician) of the former Liberal Party or its successor, the Liberal Democrats.


White

en-proper noun

White (countable and uncountable, plural Whites)

Whites (plural)
Whyte (alternative)
Wight (alternative)

* As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English *wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a derivative of the verb wican (“to yield, bend”); compare Wight.
* As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, used as a translation of several Gaelic names containing the element bán and geal, including Mac Giolla bháin (McElwain, Kilbane), Ó Gealagáin (Galligan), Bán (Bane), and Ó Banáin (Bannon).
* Also as a Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.

White (disambiguation)#Places in the United States

A minor city in Bartow County, Georgia; named for its first postmaster.


Wile

From Middle English wile, an occupational surname for a trapper or a nickname for a wily person.

(rare) A male given name transferred from the surname.


Will

Shortened from William or, less often, from other given names beginning with Wil-, such as Wilfred or Willard.

Make but my name thy love, and love that still, / And then thou lov'st me, - for my name is Will.

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 136”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

One of his neighbours opposite, a nice old guy with a stoop and a horrible little Yorkshire terrier, called him Bill - always had done and presumably always would, right up till the day he died. It actually irritated Will, who was not, he felt, by any stretch of the imagination, a Bill. Bill wouldn't smoke spliffs and listen to Nirvana. So why had he allowed this misapprehension to continue? Why hadn't he just said, four years ago, "Actually my name is Will"?

1998, Nick Hornby, About A Boy, Victor Gollancz, published 1998, →ISBN, page 208:

A male given name, a shortening of William; also used as a formal given name.


Willie

Well agreed, Willie; then sit thee down, swain;
Such a song never heardest thou but Colin sing.

1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepherd's Calendar: August:

Not one of his old friends but had been taken to task, in Willie's familiar note of boyish plaintiveness: "Why don't you call me by my own name? I never did like 'Willie' - 'William' isn't so bad. But the other sounds like pinafores and bed sheets."

1921 George Jean Nathan, Henry Mencken: The Smart Set: A Magazine of Cleverness. Item notes:v64:1(Jan.1921):page 4

But the professor's voice had risen slightly in a question as he read "Jimmy Willie Hall" off the class card. The professor had intended no rudeness and he made this clear by nodding in acknowledgement to Jim's "Heah", but someone in the back of the room had sniggered and this churlishness to a stranger had embarrassed Ellen, embarrassed all the more because she, too, had smiled at the ludicrous sound.

1970, Tony Hillerman, The Blessing Way, page 139:

A diminutive of the male given name William.

Most of the names sounded white. There was Willie Mae Jones, Leroy Washington, Roosevelt Tucker, Bessie Lou Bean, and a few other black names. But the list looked awfully pale.

1989, John Grisham, A Time To Kill, Island Books, published 1996, →ISBN, page 308:

A diminutive of the female given name Wilhelmina or a feminine diminutive of William, often in the form Willie Mae.


Willow

Before he died her father had run a nursery just outside the town. He loved trees so much he'd even named his two daughters and one son after them: Willow, Ashley and Oak.

1992, Martha Grimes, The End of the Pier, page 132:

A female given name from English of modern usage.


Willy

Willys (plural)
Willies (plural)
Willie (alternative)

A male given name, diminutive of William.


Winter

Winter (countable and uncountable, plural Winters)


Wolf

From Middle English and German short forms of given names containing the Germanic element "wolf".


Woody

A diminutive of the male given name Woodrow.


Yago

From Spanish Yago, from Latin Iācōbus (“James”), from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (ya‘ăqṓḇ, “Jacob”, literally “he will/shall heel”), from עָקֵב (‘āqḗḇ, “heel”) and the Biblical account of the patriarch Jacob's birth in Genesis 25:26. Doublet of Iago, Jago, James, Jacob, and Jacques.


Yay

A branch of the Tai language family, spoken by the Bouyei and Giáy people.


Yi

Any of a family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken by this people.


Yi

Borrowed from Korean 이 (I) (based on the South Korean spelling), hanja: 李, also spelled 리 (Ri), especially in North Korea.

Li (alternative)
Ri (alternative)
Rhee (alternative)

A surname from Korean. Equivalent to Chinese 李 (Lǐ)


Yuki

Probably from Wintu yu·keh (“enemies; Yuki”)


Zak

Zack (alternative)
Zac (alternative)
Zach (alternative)

A diminutive of the male given names Zachariah or Zachary.


Zarina

From Tatar Зара (Zara). Cognate with Persian زر (zar, “gold”), زرین (zarin, “golden”), Old Church Slavonic злато (zlato), and Russian зо́лото (zóloto).


Zeppelin

Borrowed from German Zeppelin. Named after Ferdinand von Zeppelin, whose surname derives from the German town name Zepelin. Doublet of cepelinas.


Zia

(Arabic name): Borrowed from Arabic ضِيَاء (ḍiyāʔ, “light”) via Spanish.

A male given name from Arabic popular among Muslims.


Zo

An indigenous people of Burma (Myanmar) and north-east India.


Zo

A language spoken in Myanmar and India, especially in Chin State, Mizoram and Manipur, and adjoining parts of Bangladesh.


Zo

2011, Jennifer Brown, Bitter End
Listen, Zo. Neither one of us has heard anything from you in a long time. […] Zoe and I had grown up together.

A diminutive of the female given name Zoe.


Zoe

Rosalie smiled faintly, and at the clapping of her hands, the raven-haired Zoe, in all her surpassing beauty, entered the apartment.

1833, Lloyd Wharton Bickley, Zoe, or the Sicilian Sayda: A Romance, Key&Biddle, page 112:

"Who ever heard of a girl named Zoe! You never did yourself." ¶ "I know I never did, Roy Kemble, but just the same I think it is the most beautiful name in the world. It isn't so much what it really means; names don't have to mean anything - it's what it feels like it means.

1921, Fannie Hurst, Stardust, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2007, →ISBN, page 20:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, of common usage, variant of Zoë.


Jessie

A clipping or hypochoristic form of Jessica.

A diminutive of the female given name Jessica.


Jessie

A hypochoristic form of Jane, Jean, etc., possibly under the influence of lassie or -ess and -ie. Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.


Jessie

Variant of Jesse, from Ancient Greek Ἰεσσαί (Iessaí), from Hebrew יִשַׁי (Yishai).

(US, eye dialect) A male given name from Hebrew, variant of Jesse.


Piers

A Middle English vernacular form of Peter, from Old French Piers, from Latin Petrus. Doublet of Pedro, Peter, and Boutros.


spacy

en-adj

spacy (comparative spacier, superlative spaciest)

spacier (comparative)
spaciest (superlative)
spacey (alternative)


Noah

From Biblical Hebrew נֹחַ (nóakh, nṓaḥ).

Easy to account for those trends - but what of post-Vietnam America and its generation of little Noahs? Were we expecting a flood momentarily?

1984, Erica Jong, Parachutes & Kisses, →ISBN, page 354:

On this week’s episode of “Legion,” Kondracki used her considerable talents to fulfill the promise of creator Noah Hawley’s iconoclastic but inconsistent pilot episode and its subsequent installments. Funnily enough, she did so with another multiminute opening shot.

2017 March 1, Sean T. Collins, “‘Legion’ Season 1, Episode 4: Mind Games”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2017-03-07:


Sharon

Biblical place name, Hebrew שָׁרוֹן (šārōn, “the Sharon plain”).

der

A female given name from Hebrew derived from the biblical place name.

My name is Katie Jonas. I was born in Utica. My dad worked on a brickyard. I picked out the name Sharon Falconer while I was a stenographer.

1927, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry, Harcourt, Brace and Company, page 183:

The group suggested a number of reasons why a girl might not fit in to their community - for instance, if she wore white socks and had a name like 'Sharon'.

2001, Deborah Cameron, Working With Spoken Discourse, SAGE, →ISBN, page 157:

A unisex given name from Hebrew derived from the biblical place name.


Afghani

From Afghan + -i, or directly from Persian افغانی (“Afghan (nonstandard)”).

This is not the way Afghanis conduct business. For the Afghans, time is not of the essence.

2003, Jean-Michel Monod, quoted in Intercultural Management →ISBN, page 182

(uncommon, proscribed) An Afghan; a native, inhabitant or national of Afghanistan.


Suzy

A diminutive of Susan and of related female given names.


Adele

Borrowed from French Adèle, equivalent of Adela, from a Germanic root meaning “noble”. Compare athel, German edel, Old English æþele.

The beauty and simplicity of names are altogether arbitrary: Mary and Elizabeth, and Judith, may suit a taste formed on the Puritan model, that is to say, an English and Scottish taste: the French consider Victoire, Adele, Adriane, or any other such “fanciful and romantic” names, quite as simple, and perhaps as beautiful, as Mr. Stuart does Mary and Jane.

1833, E. Littell, “On Grand Christian Names”, in The New Monthly Magazine, volume 1, page 211:

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Adrianna

A female given name from Latin, variant of Adriana.


Mack

(In sense one) From either the male name Mack or mack, itself from mackerel, which comes from Old French maquerel, from Dutch makelaar. Compare French mec.

A diminutive of the male given name Max.


interdict

From Middle English entrediten, from Old French entredire (“forbid”), from Latin interdīcō (“prohibit, forbid”), from inter- (“between”) + dīcō (“say”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-.

The Fife County Council, and other objectors, were successful in July [1950] in obtaining an interim interdict against this decision, but the Court of Session withdrew the interdict in January, and it was then stated that a civil court had no jurisdiction in the matter. […] Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the line to the North British Railway provided that that company should work it in perpetuity, and it was this clause that caused the interim interdict to be granted.

1951 April, “Notes and News: North Fife Line, Scotland”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281:

In May [1995], the court issued an interdict preventing the service withdrawal, pending consultation on the closure to passenger traffic of three short stretches of railway around Glasgow and its hinterland that were only used by the Fort William Sleeper - and for which BR had failed to invoke standard closure procedures.

2021 August 25, David Clough, “The Sleeper experience”, in RAIL, number 938, page 61:


Alisha

A modern spelling variant of Alicia, a Latinisation of Alice, from the Germanic Aliz, a short form of the Germanic Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic Adalheidis, from adal (noble) and heid (type), thus of a noble kind.


Arran

Derived from Scottish Gaelic Arainn, but the name is ultimately probably of non-Indo-European (substrate) or Pictish origin, along with other uncertain names in Scotland such as Skye, Lewis, and Islay.
Possibly from a Brythonic/Pictish term ancestral or cognate to Middle Welsh aran (“"high place"”).

A male given name transferred from the place name, of modern Scottish usage.


Crystal

"Crystal's pretty. The name, I mean."
Jewel shook her head. "It doesn't look like her. She looks like Beaver Cleaver." […]
Crys chuckled. For the first time since she'd planted herself fiercely on Lusa's driveway that morning she sounded clear and transparent, like a child. Like the crystal she was.

2000, Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 121, 298:

"No prob. I'm wired, anyway...Christa or Crystal. Why'd Kayla peg her for a stripper?"
"Because Gavin said she was a dancer," I said.
"Well," he said, "name a girl Crystal and what's more likely? That she'll get a Ph.D. in biomechanics, or end up shaking her tail for tips?"

2004, Jonathan Kellerman, Therapy, →ISBN, page 335:

Crystal just stood there with a semisad look on her face.

2013, Chuck Dozier, The Second Time Around, page 167:


gimel

From Hebrew גימל (gimel); ultimately from Proto-Semitic word for a weapon which was debatably either a staff sling or a throwing stick. Doublet of gamma.

The third letter of the several Semitic alphabets (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac).


Samaritan

/səˈmæɹɪtən/

/səˈmɛɹɪtən/

From Latin Samarītānus, from Ancient Greek Σαμαρείτης (Samareítēs), from Σαμαρεία (Samareía, “Samaria”), derived from Biblical Hebrew שֹׁמְרוֹנִים (Šōmərôním) and שֹׁמְרוֹן (Šōmərôn) respectively. Attested in Old English.

A charitable person, one who helps others (from the Bible story in Luke 10:30–37).

(UK) A person who works for the Samaritans telephone helpline, taking calls from suicidal members of the public.


Samaritan

/səˈmæɹɪtən/

/səˈmɛɹɪtən/

The ancient language of Samaria: a dialect of Hebrew.


Teutonic

en-adj

Teutonic (comparative more Teutonic, superlative most Teutonic)

more Teutonic (comparative)
most Teutonic (superlative)
Teutonick (alternative)

PIE word
 *tewtéh₂
1580, from Latin Teutonicus, from Teutonēs, Teutonī (“the Teutons”, name of a Germanic tribe that inhabited coastal Germany and devastated Gaul between 113–101 B.C.), equivalent to Teuton + -ic.

(archaic) Relating to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.


Norn Iron

/ˈnɔːn ˈaɪɹən/

From an exaggerated pronunciation of Northern Ireland in a broad Belfast accent.

(Ireland, endearing slang) Northern Ireland.


martial

From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial (“martial”)), or directly from its etymon Latin mārtiālis (“of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war”), from Mārtius (“of or pertaining to Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is cognate with Italian marziale (“martial”), Portuguese marcial (“martial”), Spanish marcial (“martial”).

der

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, [...]

1892, The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume LXIX, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 218, column 2:

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Synonym of Martian (“inhabitant of the planet Mars”)


Martial

From Latin Martialis (“Roman cognomen”), from martiālis (“belonging or dedicated to the Mars, the Roman god of war, or to war”), from Mārs (“the god Mars; the planet Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).

Saint Martial was the first bishop of Limoges, circa 250

A male given name from Latin, narrowly applied to certain historic persons (but some of its foreign cognates are modern given names).

An Anglicized cognomen or given name of the Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, born in Spain in the first century AD and noted for his epigrams.


Martial

For, having found out by a careful series of observations, the parts of Mars' orbit where the planet entered upon its various seasons, he [William Herschel] noted that, soon after mid-winter of the northern hemisphere, the northern white spot attained its greatest dimensions, while the southern was reduced to a tiny oval of light; whereas half a Martial year later, the southern spot was at its largest, and the northern a mere speck when compared with its winter appearance.

1869 February 6, “The Planet of War”, in E[neas] S[weetland] Dallas, editor, Once a Week, volume III, number 58 (New Series), London: Bradbury, Evans, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 74, column 1:

(astronomy, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of martial (“of or relating to the planet Mars”)


Martial

The Martials, if there be Martials in any sense in which there are terrestrials on our own planet, may have no eyes at all; their whole civilisation, if they have say, may depend on senses of which we have absolutely no trace, […]

(chiefly science fiction, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of martial (“inhabitant of the planet Mars; Martian”)


Clifford

From Old English clif (“cliff”) + ford (“ford”).

A male given name transferred from the surname.


dee

I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

IED [is spoken] as "eye-ee-dee" instead of "I SPELL India Echo Delta Romeo".

2016, CCEB, Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures: ACP125 (G), pages 3–5:

The name of the Latin-script letter D/d.


Galen

From Ancient Greek Γαληνός (Galēnós), from γαλήνη (galḗnē, “calm, tranquillity”).

A male given name from Ancient Greek, of mostly American usage.


Kate

→ Scottish Gaelic: Ceit

→⇒ Scottish Gaelic: Ceiteag, Ceitidh

Pet[ruchio]. […] Enter Katerina. / Good morrow Kate, for thats your name I heare.
Kate. Well haue you heard, but ſomething hard of hearing: / They call me Katerine, that do talke of me.
Pet. You lye infaith, for you are call'd plaine Kate, / And bony Kate, and ſometimes Kate the curſt: / But Kate, the prettieſt Kate in Chriſtendome, / Kate of Kate-hall, my ſuper-daintie Kate, / For dainties are all Kates, and therefore Kate / Take this of me, Kate of my conſolation, / Hearing thy mildneſſe prais'd in euery Towne, / Thy vertues ſpoke of, and thy beautie ſounded, / Yet not ſo deepely as to thee belongs, / My ſelfe am moou'd to woo thee for my wife.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 216, column 1:

A great number of children, amongst the lower classes, are Carolines. - - - A clergyman in my neighbourhood used to mistake the sound, and christen the babies Catharine; - a wise error, for Kate is a noble abbreviation.

1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names::

"And I have such a horrible name. Think of it... Kate. Who would take Kate on a Moonlight Cruise...or out to the Minstrels at the point. If you ever do find me in the company of a strange young man, call me Irene. Promise me."

1944, A.J.Cronin, The Green Years, Little, Brown, and Company, page 62:

Ruth did know, but Kate was not named after Hecate or Auntie Catherine or Santa Caterina of Siena (suggested by a Catholic priest of Ruth's acquaintance). She was simply Kate because Ruth liked the name. It was attractive without being twee, strong without being hard. You could hear it prefaced by Doctor or followed by MP. At the same time it was cute enough for a baby.

2014, Elly Griffiths, Ruth Galloway: The Early Cases: A Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries Collection, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

A diminutive of the female given name Katherine and related names, also used as a formal given name.


proper name

A proper name, when it occurs in a proposition, is always, at least according to one of the possible ways of analysis (where there are several), the subject that the proposition or some subordinate constituent proposition is about, and not what is said about the subject.

1950, Bertrand Russell, The Principles of Mathematics:

We might clarify some of the points made in this chapter by comparing paradigm proper names with degenerate proper names like "the Bank of England".

Proper names are poetry in the raw. Like all poetry they are untranslatable. Someone who is translating into English a German novel, the hero of which is named Heinrich, will leave the name as it is; he will not Anglicize it into Henry.

1970, W. H. Auden, A Certain World, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 267:

For instance, the proper name ‘Jessica Alba’ consists of two proper nouns: ‘Jessica’ and ‘Alba’.

2009, Sam Cumming, “Names”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

For quotations using this term, see Citations:proper name.

A word or phrase that has noun part of speech and names a specific object, usually capitalized, examples being Martin or New York.


Aleshia

One of the modern variations of Alicia, meaning "of noble kind".

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Dalton

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Dalton.wav

From Old English dæl (“valley”) + tun (“settlement”). Equivalent to dale + town.


Abel

From Middle English Abel, from Old English Ābel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (Héḇel, “Abel”), possibly from the homonymous word הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”) or from Akkadian 𒌉𒍑 (ablu, “son”).


Emily

English form of Latin Aemilia, a gens name from aemulus (“rival, emulator”).

1380s-1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale
I am thy mortal foe, and it am I
That so hot loveth Emily the bright,
That I would die here present in her sight.

People will please their fancies, and every lady has her favourite names. I myself have several, and they are mostly short and simple. - - - Emily, in which all womanly sweetness seems bound up - perhaps this is the effect of association of ideas - I have known so many charming Emilys

This may have accounted for Emma's Christian name, for it had seemed to Beatrix unfair to call her daughter Emily, a name associated with her grandmother's servants rather than the author of The Wuthering Heights, so Emma had been chosen, perhaps with the hope that some of the qualities possessed by the heroine of the novel might be perpetuated.

1980, Barbara Pym, A Few Green Leaves, →ISBN, page 8:

Emily. Em-il-y, three syllables, like a knock on the door of destiny. Such an odd, old-fashioned name, compared to those Kylies and Traceys and Jades — names that reeked of Impulse and grease and stood out in gaudy neon colours — whilst hers was that muted, dusky pink, like bubblegum, like roses —

2010, Joanne Harris, blueeyedboy, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 102:


Downing Street

Named for its founder, Sir George Downing.

Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer

A street leading off Whitehall in Westminster, London containing the residences of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer

(metonymically, by extension) The British government.

For all his faults and grandstanding, however, Prescott genuinely cared - and his ambitious plans for tram schemes and railway extensions were stymied by lack of support from Downing Street.

2024 January 10, Christian Wolmar, “A time for change? ... just as it was back in issue 262”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 60:

(loosely) Either 10 Downing Street or 11 Downing Street.


Christine

Borrowed from French Christine. Doublet of Christina.

"Chris?" he repeated after her very softly, his eyes upon her, tenderly indulgent. "Ah! let it be Christine. I may call you that?"
"My actual name is Christina, but that's a detail. You can call me Christine if you like it best."

1913, Ethel May Dell, The Rocks of Valpré, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2007, →ISBN, page 36:


Samantha

It was recorded in the 17th century in England.
Most probably a feminine form of Samuel, possibly influenced by Anthea. Other suggestions include Aramaic ܫܡܥܢܬܐ (šemʿanta, “listener”, noun), from ܫܡܥ.
In India, Samantha can be interpreted as a variant spelling of Samanta, from Sanskrit समन्त (samanta, “universal, adjacent”).

der

These country girls, as they were called, had queer names, which added to the singularity of their appearance. Samantha, Triphena, Plumy, Leafy, Ruhamah, Lovey, and Florilla were among them.

1876, Phebe Ann Hanaford, Women of the Century, page 525:

"Its name is Samantha Jo, after Josiah and me. - - - If it had been a boy, we was layin' out to call it Josiah Sam, - Sam for Samantha."

1888, Marietta Holley, Josiah Allen's Wife as a P.A. and P.I.: Samantha at the Centennial, page 577:

"Middle of the depression - who's going to give a kid a nutty name like Samantha? Today's another matter, but around then, from what I hear, people weren't thinking about these stylish names."

1967, Howard Fast, Samantha, I Books, published 2004, →ISBN, page 42:

But here's my favorite name: Samuel. It's from the Bible. If it's a girl, name it Samantha. That sounds like something in a prayer, doesn't it? I think it's a name in the Chronicles. I've been reading the Bible every night." - - -
She found the Book of Chronicles and scanned it. - - - There was no Samantha in either the first or the second book of the Chronicles.

1985, Bobbie Ann Mason, In Country, Harper&Row, →ISBN, pages 182, 183:

Although US officials have been sounding the alarm about the imminent risk of famine in the war-torn strip, USAID Administrator Samantha Power is the first official to publicly agree with an assessment that famine is already taking place.

2024 April 11, Jennifer Hansler, “USAID administrator says it is ‘credible’ to assess famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza”, in CNN:


Wills

From the clipping of William + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

A diminutive of the male given name William.


Estuary English

received pronunciation
received pronunciation

(British) A variety of English accent, spreading out from London into the area of the Thames estuary, containing features of received pronunciation, Cockney and other regional accents.

Estuaryn murre (no established translation)


Joyce

Medieval (Middle English) given name from Old French Josse, name of a seventh century saint Latinized as Iodocus, from Breton Iodoc, diminutive of iudh (“lord”), from Proto-Celtic *youdos.

"It's a curious name," remarked Captain Levison. "Joyce - Joyce! I never heard such a name. Is it a Christian name or a surname?"
"She was baptised Joyce. It is not so very uncommon. Her name is Joyce Hallijohn. She has been with us several years."

1860, Mrs Henry Wood (Ellen Wood), East Lynne:

You call me mother, and I remember my mother again,
somewhere in greater Boston, dying.
I remember we named you Joyce
so we could call you Joy.

A female given name from the Celtic languages, associated by folk etymology with joy and rejoice.