apprise

en-verb

apprise (third-person singular simple present apprises, present participle apprising, simple past and past participle apprised)

apprises (present singular third-person)
apprising (participle present)
apprised (participle past)
apprised (past)
apprise (infinitive)
apprize (alternative)

From Middle English aprisen, apprisen (“to determine or estimate the value of (something), to appraise, evaluate; to regard (something) as important, valuable, or worthy, to esteem, prize; to praise or worship (God)”), and then either:
* from Old French apriser, aprisier (“to appraise, evaluate”), from à (“to”) + prisier, preisier (“to attribute a value to, to appraise, value”) (from Latin pretiāre, the present active infinitive of pretiō (“(Late Latin) to consider valuable, hold in high regard, to esteem, prize, value; (Medieval Latin) to estimate the worth of, appraise, assess, value”), from pretium + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)); or
* from Old French à pris (“to (put a) price (on)”) (pris (“price; esteem, (positive) reputation”) is derived from Latin pretium).
Pretium (“cost, price; value, worth”) is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”). The English word is a doublet of appraise, appreciate, praise, price, and prize.

doublet

Infeftments are alſo extinct, vvhen the Superior adjudgeth or appriſeth from his Vaſſal; for thereby it vvas found, that the Property vvas Conſolidat vvith the Superiority,

1681, James Dalrymple of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], “Extinction of Infeftments”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, […], 1st part, Edinburgh: […] Heir of Andrew Anderson, […], →OCLC, page 416:

[T]he infeftment of annualrent, being jus sed ignobilius, becomes extinct, if the annualrenter thereupon do apprise the property, and be infeft: and therefore, whoever appriseth for any years of the annualrent, the infeftment thereof, unless it be taken away by satisfaction or redemption, extinguisheth the infeftment of annualrent, without distinction whether the apprising be led for any years belonging to the fiar, liferenter, or any other.

1832, James, Viscount of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], John S[hank] More, “Title V. Infeftments of Annualrent, where, of Poinding of the Ground, and of Pensions.”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, […], new edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Walker] for Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 387:

(specifically, Scots law) To put a price on (something) for the purpose of sale; to appraise.


Jonathan

en-proper noun

Jonathan (countable and uncountable, plural Jonathans)

/ˈd͡ʒɒnəθən/

/ˈd͡ʒɑnəθɪn/

Borrowed from Hebrew יְהוֹנָתָן (iehonatán), יוֹנָתָן (ionatán, literally “God has given”), apparently with influence from Aramaic [Term?].

bor+

“Well indeed,” said Foley, “’tis a mystery to me how the sergeant puts up with her. If any woman up and called me an outlandish name like Jonathan when everyone knew my name was plain John I’d do fourteen days for her - by God, I would, and a calendar month.”

1936 Frank O'Connor, In The Train. The Stories of Frank O’Connor, Knopf, 1952. page 166

So I’d change to names I really like. I mean, Jonathan. If I ever have a son I’m going to call him Jonathan, so I’d have that. And then I like monosyllabic surnames that aren’t too common, so I’d have Dean or Bell or King. There you are, how about Jonathan King?

1998, Barbara Vine, The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy, →ISBN, page 168:

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Fula

* From Manding languages, ultimately from Fula root ful- (pul-)

A member of a largely pastoral Muslim people of West Africa.

Fulani

from Hausa; ultimately from Fula root ful- [pul-]

Peul

French equivalent; ultimately from Fula root ful- [pul-] via Wolof


Croat

en-noun

Croat (countable and uncountable, plural Croats)

From Medieval Latin Croata, from Proto-Slavic *xъrvatъ (“Croat”), the Croatian autonym. It, in turn, is probably of non-Slavic origin: probably from an Iranian or Germanic language. Doublet of cravat.

(countable) A native or inhabitant of Croatia; a person of Croatian ethnicity.

It almost made him laugh. What could he possibly do in Ohio? Did Cleveland have a pressing need for secret policemen who spoke Croat?

2012, Alen Mattich, Zagreb Cowboy, →ISBN:

(uncountable, uncommon) The Croatian lect.


Arnold

From a French version of a Germanic name, from Proto-Germanic *arô (“eagle”) + *waldą (“power”). For the first part of the word doublet of erne, -ornis, and ornitho-.
Compare the Latin male given name and cognomen Aquila, and female given name Aquilīna (whence Russian Акули́на (Akulína)), related to aquila (whence eagle).

Arnold used to be a name only a mother could love, but it does not mean nerd anymore. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped out of the gym and onto the screen, it has come to suggest popping delts and giant pecs, a world of undisputed macho.

A male given name from the Germanic languages brought to England by Normans.


Dennis

From Middle English Denis, from Old French saint's name Denis, brought to England by Normans; from Latin Dionysius, "follower of (the wine god) Dionysus".

I will physic your rankness, and yet give no thousand crowns neither. Holla, Dennis!

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]:

Each disliked the choice of the other. "Charles is a stern name," she affirmed. "Nonsense," said Philip. "It's as agreeable a name as there is. Dennis sounds like a comical Irish story." "You just show your bad feeling when you say such a thing," she retorted. "'T is a grand name!"

1944, Mazo de la Roche, The Building of Jalna, Little,Brown&co:


Ernest

Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.

der

GWENDOLEN. […] and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.

1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act I]:

"What's his name, your boyfriend?" "Ernest. Ernest Hemingway." The name was received in disparaging silence. Marlene said: "You wouldn't get me going out with a feller called Ernest. My granddad was Ernest."

A male given name from the Germanic languages; popular in the 19th century.


Raymond

en-proper noun

Raymond (countable and uncountable, plural Raymonds)

From Old French, from Frankish, from Proto-Germanic *raginą (“advice”) + *mundō (“protection”).

An uncle of mine whose name was Cecil Jeffery Courtenay obtained a post of great emolument simply by virtue of his 'pretty' name. Mine, I think, is quite as effective, though it depends upon but one Christian name, Raymond. I am Raymond Courtenay.

1886 Mary Elizabeth Braddon: Belgravia Magazine. Item notes:V.60.(July-Oct.1886) page 94

What splendid names for boys there are! / There's Carol like a rolling car, / And Martin like a flying bird, / And Adam like the Lord's First Word, / And Raymond like the Harvest Moon,

1933, Eleanor Farjeon, “Boys' Names”, in Over the Garden Wall, Faber and Faber, page 90:

I thought the name Raymond sounded respectable. Good name for a lawyer.

2006, Janette McCarthy, Hanging on a String, →ISBN, page 141:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Maria

From Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מרים (Maryām), corresponding to the Hebrew מרים (Miryām). Doublet of Mary, Marie, and Miriam.

Yet herein they come short of the monks and friars in their conceits of the word Maria; they have so tossed it and turned it, so anagrammatized and transposed it, that never were five poor letters so worried since time did put them into the alphabet.

1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed, The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 211

By their dresses, their names, and the airs of quality they give themselves, I am rendered ridiculous among all my acquaintance. My wife, who is a very plain good woman, and whose name is Amey, has been new-christened, and is called Amelia; and my little daughter, a child of a year old, is no longer Polly, but Maria.

1776, Adam Fitz-Adam: The World of Adam Fitz-Adam. Edinburgh, Apollo Press 1776: Numb. 187. Thursday, July 29, 1756

I've just kissed a girl named Maria / And suddenly I found how wonderful a sound can be! / Maria! Say it loud and there's music playing / Say it soft and it's almost like praying

1957, “Maria”, in Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), Leonard Bernstein (music), West Side Story:


Ferdinand

From Spanish Ferdinando, from Proto-Germanic *fardiz (“journey”) + *nanþaz (“daring”) (from the root of *ninþaną (“to be daring”)).
The moon is named after a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

A male given name from the Germanic languages, best known for a 13th century king of Spain, but seldom popular in English.


Julius

Borrowed from Latin Iūlius, of uncertain origin, possibly from Ancient Greek ἴουλος (íoulos, “downy first beard hairs”), i.e. the young, or from Latin Jovilius (“devoted to Jove”). Doublet of Jules.

der

WHẽ it was cõcluded that we ſhulde ſayle into italy / they delivered Paul / and certayne other pꝛeſoners vnto won named Iulius / ã vnder captayne of Ceſars ſoudiars.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts xxvij:[1], folio cxcv, recto:

The seven [centurions] from II Adiutrix, whose stay in the province can be closely dated to the years 71–85/6, have an instructive set of names – two Julii, appropriately enough in a period when two of the governors also bore this name; […]

1980, Anthony Birley, “Legionary centurions”, in The People of Roman Britain, Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 73:

Vespasian, a simple man, always laughed because so many Julii and Claudii were made divine after their deaths. On his deathbed he said, “Alas! I think I’m becoming a god.”

2001, Rose Williams, Duces Romanorum: Profiles in Roman Courage, teacher’s edition, London: WPC Classics, →ISBN, page 94:

So the man whom we know as Julius Caesar was a member of the Julii clan belonging to a particular branch whose paternal designation was Caesar. Only intimate family members would have called him Gaius. Caesar was known by his cognomen, presumably because there were many Julii and it would have caused confusion to use that nomen.

2007, Mark Walker, “Roman Names, Numerals, Dates & Days”, in Annus Horribilis: Latin for Everyday Life, Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, published 2010:

“Julius is Marguerite’s dog,” Jeanne Louise explained to Paul as she smiled at her Italian cousin. / “I thought Julius was Marguerite’s life mate?” Paul said with confusion. / “He is. There are two Juliuses,” Christian said with amusement. “One is a dog, and one is my father.”

2012, Lynsay Sands, The Lady Is a Vamp (An Argeneau Novel), New York, N.Y.: Avon, →ISBN, page 292:


Kenneth

en-proper noun

Kenneth (countable and uncountable, plural Kenneths)

Anglicized form of two Goidelic names, Old Irish Cináed, the name of Scottish kings derived from Pictish *ᚉᚔᚅᚔᚑᚇ (Ciniod), and the saint's name Cainnech (literally “handsome”) (modern Scottish Gaelic Coinneach), as in the surname Mackenzie.

Know, however, that among the soldiers of the Cross I am called Kenneth - Kenneth of the Couching Leopard; at home I have other titles, but they would sound harsh in an Eastern ear.

1825, Sir Walter Scott, chapter III, in The Talisman:

"The other one, his name was Kenneth, was born in February nineteen twenty-one."
"All these Kens," she said.

1998 Barbara Vine ( Ruth Rendell ): The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. →ISBN page 166

"As you say. It must have been the sexy name. These days Kens are all Chinese cooks. - - -

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, originally used in Scotland, popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.


Ludwig

Borrowed from German Ludwig, which see for more information. Doublet of Louis etc.


Franz

A male given name from Latin, rare in English.

A diminutive of the female given name Frances.


weather balloon

en-noun

weather balloon (plural weather balloons)

(ufology, sarcastic) a skeptical explanation to debunk a UFO sighting that a believer regards as silly, illogical or disingenuous


Claude

en-proper noun

Claude (countable and uncountable, plural Claudes)

Roman family name Claudius, from Latin claudus (“lame”).

(countable) A male given name from Latin.


Katherine

Katherine
Katherine River
Katherine, Northern Territory

/ˈkæθ(ə)ɹɪn/

SAVAGE (HENRY) - - - His aim was to appear great in little things, and the gravity with which he discusses the origin, derivation, &c of the name Katherine, whether it should be spelt with a K or a C, at which time the letter k was introduced, and the double l in Balliol, is truly wonderful. - - - By his wife, Lady Mary Sandys, he left issue Henry, Edwin, John, Katherine, and Thomas

1816, Alexander Chalmers, The General Biographical Dictionary, page 186:

During her childhood she was a romanticized Katherine, dressed by her misty-eyed, fussy mother in dresses that looked like ruffled pillowcases. By high school she'd shed the frills and emerged as a bouncy, round-faced Kathy - - - At university she was Kath, blunt and no-bullshit in her Take-Back-the-Night jeans and checked shirt - - - When she ran away to England, she sliced herself down to Kat. It was economical, street-feline, and pointed as a nail.

1991, Margaret Atwood, Wilderness Tips, →ISBN, page 36:

A female given name from Ancient Greek, a popular spelling variant of Catherine.


Amerika

[…] As far as he could determine, the victim had been stealing from Amerika in order to support his crystal habit. The victim had also been Amerika's lover and had lived in the carraca with her.

2008, Sam Warren, Tales from the Tijuana Jails, Bookwarren Publishing Servi, →ISBN, page 203:

A female given name, a variant of America.


Richie

A diminutive of the male given name Richard.


Rohingya

/ɹoʊˈhɪŋ.jə/

/ɹoʊˈhɪŋ.d͡ʒə/

/ɹoʊˈhɪŋ.ɡə/

/ɹoʊˈhɪn.d͡ʒə/

/ˈɹəʊhɪŋ.jə/

/ˈɹəʊhɪŋ.d͡ʒə/

/ɹəʊˈhɪŋ.jə/

/ɹəʊˈhɪŋ.d͡ʒə/

/ɹəʊˈhɪŋ.ɡə/

/ɹəʊˈhɪn.d͡ʒə/

Borrowed from Rohingya ruáingga, from Rohingya Rohang + ya (“the people of Rohing”). Rohang is the old kingdom name of Arakan in present-day Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).

The Indo-European language spoken in Arakan, Myanmar, closely related to Chittagonian.


Shane

Anglicized form of the Northern Irish pronunciation 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, Sean, Shaun, and Giovanni as a male name.
Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena as a female name.

doublet

Back in ancient Hollywood history, there was an extremely well-known movie titled Shane. It was a classic western in which the late Alan Ladd played the title role. The most famous scene is the last one in the film, when Shane is riding off into the sunset and the little kid is chasing after him yelling, "Shane, come back, Shane!"

2010, L.L.Steinmetz - W.T.Brooks, How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitor, John Wiley&Sons, →ISBN:


Allison

en-prop

Allison (countable and uncountable, plural Allisons)

Allisons (plural)
Alison (alternative)
Alyson (alternative)
Allyson (alternative)

From a Middle English diminutive form of Alan, Alexander or Alice + -son.

"Allison?" Surely that was a girl's name.
"It's after Davey Allison, the race car driver. He got killed right before the baby was born. Tracy and me wanted to honor his memory." It was a precise little speech. She must have explained the name many times.

1994, Sharyn McCrumb, She Walks These Hills, Scribner's, →ISBN, page 81:

(countable) A male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly before 1950 usage.

Allison MacKenzie's father, for whom the child had been named, died when she was three years old.

1956, Grace Metalious, Peyton Place, UPNE, published 1999, →ISBN, Book One, Chapter 4:

(countable) A female given name from the Germanic languages, of 1940s and later usage, variant of Alison.

Westmorland County
Westmorland County#English

A community in Moncton Parish, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada.

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in La Plata County, Colorado.

An unincorporated community in Nodaway County, Missouri.


Red Planet

the Red Planet (canonical)
red planet (alternative)


Guinean

Someone from Guinea or of Guinean descent.

Guineër

someone from Guinea or of Guinean descent


Brooklyn

→⇒ Latin: brooklynensis

/ˈbɹʷʊk.ɫɪn/

[ˈbɹ̠ʷʊ̠kɫ̪ɪ̈n]

From Dutch Breukelen, from broek (“wetland, marsh”).

A female given name transferred from the place name, of modern usage, also spelled Brooklynn.

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


Passamaquoddy

From Malecite-Passamaquoddy Peskotomuhkat (“those who spear pollock / those who live where there are pollock”).

uder

The Algonquian language of these people, a dialect of Malecite-Passamaquoddy, still spoken in Maine and New Brunswick.


Ajax

THE road north took us to Ajax, Louisiana, more of a crossroads than an actual town. The RV park sat just a minute or so from the interstate and miles from much else; a saw mill near the highway and a diner across the road were the only...

2016, Suzi Parron, Following the Barn Quilt Trail, Ohio University Press, →ISBN:

Natchitoches Parish
Natchitoches Parish#English

An unincorporated community in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana.

Nickname of Aspen Mountain, a mountain in Pitkin County, Colorado.


Hebe

From Ancient Greek Ἥβη (Hḗbē, literally “Youth, Prime of Life”).


British English

Coordinate term: (symbols) AmE

We shall not say that this is British English; but we willingly confess that it is not American English.

1861, “The Shakespeare Mystery”, in The Atlantic Monthly, v 8, n 47, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, p 258 (note)

Some noticeable and general differences between American and British English may be explained by the fact, that considerable bodies of Englishmen sometimes emigrated from the same vicinity, and that in their new home they and their multiplied descendants have kept together and continued to employ dialect peculiarities of their native speech, or retained words of general usage which elsewhere perished.

1863, George Perkins Marsh, “The English Language in America”, in Lectures on the English Language, 4th edition, New York: Charles Scribner, page 667:

Now, according to my observation, no man whom the Dean of Canterbury, or the Public Orator of Cambridge, would accept as a speaker of pure English, says, with thick utterance, “a gloss of ayull;” and yet thousands of their countrymen do speak thus, and this peculiarity of British English passes very gradually away as social and mental culture increase, until among the best-bred and best-educated people it vanishes, and is heard no more than it or a nasal twang is heard among similar people here.

1867, Richard Grant White, “Words and their Uses: British English and American English”, in The Galaxy, volume 4, New York, page 102:

Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations

The English language as written and spoken in the United Kingdom; (often) that which is spoken in both the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, considered as a single variety.

اَلْإِنْجِلِيزِيَّة اَلْبِرِيطَانِيَّة

English language as in Britain, especially in England


Lolita

The name is from Spanish Lolita, diminutive of Lola, from the given name Dolores.
The noun derives from the name: see the etymology at lolita for details.

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.

1955, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 1, in Lolita:


Lolita

Transliteration of Bengali ললিতা (lolita).

translit

A female given name of Assamese, Bengali, Odia and Santali usage.


Opal

A unisex given name from English from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.

A female given name from English from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.

(rare) A male given name from English from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.

Perhaps to console herself for the bad luck she had already suffered, in a back corner of South Sherbrooke Township - or perhaps to make up, ahead of time, for a lack of motherly feelings - she gave the girls the fanciest names she could think of: Opal Violet, Dawn Rose, and Bonnie Hope.

1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN, page 208:


Ab

A diminutive of the male given name Abner, from Hebrew, occasionally used as a formal given name.


Abbey

A diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew.

A diminutive of the male given name Albert, from the Germanic languages.

A hamlet in Dunkeswell parish, East Devon district, Devon, England, probably named for the local abbey (OS grid ref ST1410).

A small village south-east of Tuam, County Galway, Ireland (Irish grid ref M 5043).

A village west of Portumna, County Galway (Irish grid ref M 7305).

A village in the Rural Municipality of Miry Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, named after a farm in Ireland.

Western Australia
Western Australia#English

A suburb of Busselton, Western Australia, named after landholder D. Abbey.


Abbi

A diminutive of the female given name Abigail.


Abby

Abbys (plural)
Abbe (alternative)
Abbey (alternative)
Abbi (alternative)
Abbie (alternative)
Abi (alternative)
Abbee (alternative)

"I spose you want to be a cattleboy," drawled the multicolored beard whose name was Carrol Day, a curiously feminine name, thought Martin, not yet acquaintanced with the bearded Marions, Fannys and Abbys of Texas who, saddled by their unthinking mothers with dainty names, built savagely masculine frames of character.

2002, Annie Proulx, That Old Ace in the Hole, →ISBN, page 81:

A diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew, also used as a formal given name.


Abby

Abbe (alternative)
Abbey (alternative)
Abbi (alternative)
Abbie (alternative)
Abi (alternative)
Abbee (alternative)


Abdulaziz

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish عبد العزیز (ʼabd ül-ʼaziz), from Arabic عَبْد العَزِيز (ʕabd al-ʕazīz, literally “the servant of Aziz”), one of the 99 names for Allah.

der

عَبْد العَزِيز


Abigail

From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).

bor

The name of Abigail Adams is naturally closely associated with those of her illustrious father and mother, - - - Born in 1765, the mother's quaint Christian name was given to the little girl

1912 Edith Tunis Sale: Old Time Belles and Cavaliers. J.B.Lippincott 1912. page 178

A female given name from Hebrew, used since the 16th century, and currently quite popular.


Ac

With the Mac in the Ac door paneling

(slang, African-American Vernacular) The Acura Legend automobile.


Ache

A language spoken by the Yi people of South-Western China.


Ada

Short form of Germanic names beginning with adal (“noble”), such as Adelaide. Also Latinized form of Hebrew Adah. The programming language takes its name from Ada Lovelace.

Is thy face like thy mother's, my fair child! / Ada! Sole daughter of my house and heart?

1818 George Gordon Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the third: I

A female given name from the Germanic languages.


Adel

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *aþalaz. The female name is a rare variant of Adele. The surname is borrowed from German Adel.

(rare) A female given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Adele.

Pushmataha County
Pushmataha County#English

An unincorporated community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States.


Adel

Variant of Adil, from Arabic عَادِل (ʕādil).


Aggie

"Why do you call Mrs. Stone Aggie? Agnes is such a beautiful name, it is a shame to nick it in that way." Then, quickly regretting his impatience, he added, "You would not have been jealous, would you, Jenny?"

1876, Annie Howells Fréchette, Reuben Dale, Galaxy, W.C. and F.P.Church, published 1876, page 394:

A diminutive of the female given names Agnes or Agatha.


Al

A diminutive of the male given names Alan, Albert, Alexander, Alfred, or other male or female names beginning with Al-, from the Celtic languages, the Germanic languages, Ancient Greek, or Old English.


Alan

Alans (plural)
Allan (alternative)
Allen (alternative)
Alen (alternative)

From Old Breton Alan, name of early Breton saints, of disputed origin and meaning; brought to England by Normans. It may have been the name of a Celtic deity, the brother of Bran, Welsh Alawn, Celtic Alun, ‘harmony’. As an early Irish name, perhaps connected with ail (“noble”). Compare French Alain.

He grabbed at Alan by his Adam's apple,
And Alan grabbed him back in furious grapple
And clenched his fist and bashed him on the nose.

1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Reeve's Tale”, in Nevill Coghill, transl., The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977:

I could pose as an artist all right; so I took the studio. Also the name of Alan Beverley. My own is Bill Bates. I had often wondered what it would feel like to be called by some name like Alan Beverley or Cyril Trevelyan.

1910, P. G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs, and Other Stories, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 24:

A male given name from the Celtic languages.


Alan

A male given name from Hebrew, variant of Elon.


Alba

From Spanish Alba, ultimately from the same origin as Etymology 1 and 2.

A female given name from Spanish alba (“dawn”), of modern usage.


Alf

A diminutive of the male given names Alfred or Alfonso, from the Germanic languages.


Ali

From Arabic عَلِيّ (ʕaliyy, literally “high, exalted”), from the Arabic root ع ل ي (ʕ l y).

ar-root

ع ل ي (ʕ l y)


Ali

Alis (plural)
Aly (alternative)
Alee (alternative)

A diminutive of the female given name Alison or of its variants.

A diminutive of the male given name Alistair or of its variants.


Alla

А́лла Алла#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian or Ukrainian female given name А́лла (Álla)


Ally

A diminutive of the female given names Alice, Alison, Alexandra, or other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages or Ancient Greek.

Ally Love

Golden-hair'd Ally whose name is one with mine,
Crazy with laughter and babble and earth's new wine

1880, Alfred Tennyson, To Alfred Tennyson, My Grandson:

A diminutive of the male given names Alfred, Albert, Alan, Alexander, or other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages, the Celtic languages, or Ancient Greek.


Alma

Usually explained as Latin alma (“nourishing, kind”). It has also been used as a short form of Germanic compound names beginning with the element Amal-, as in Amelia.

Alma she called was, a virgin bright:/ That had not yet felt Cupides wanton rage,/ Yet was she woo'd of many a gentle knight […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18:

A female given name from Latin, popular in the 19th century.


Alta

"I'm thinkin', Marthy Ann, that as Altie's " ( she had been named Alta, for her mother ) - "close onto twelve year old, ye might be spared ter go off home- - -

1870 Mary Mapes Dodge: St. Nicholas:A Monthly Magazine for Boys and Girls: page 725 (Little Menan Light)

A female given name from Latin possibly from Latin alta (“high”), fairly common in the United States in the nineteenth century.

census-designated place
census-designated place

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


Althea

From Althaia or Althaea of Greek mythology, from Ancient Greek Ἀλθαία (Althaía).


Amber

From amber, from Middle English ambre, from Old French ambre, from Latin ambar, from Arabic عَنْبَر (ʕanbar, “ambergris”).

The youngest daughter of the Marchioness of Summerdown had one of these quaint, pretty names - Amber! - and what a pretty creature she was!

1854 Harper's Magazine, Volume IX, June to November 1854, page 667 ("Lady Amber Mayne")

And then she said softly, "Sarah - I think I'll name her Amber - for the colour of her father's eyes - "

1944, Kathleen Winsor, Forever Amber, Chicago Review Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 14:

A bit raddled, maybe thirty, maybe older, tanned like a hitchhiker, dressed like a road protester, one of those older women still determinedly being a girl; all those eighties feministy still-political women were terribly interested in what Eve did. Hippie name. Amber. Ridiculous name.

2005, Ali Smith, The Accidental, Penguin, published 2006, →ISBN, page 64:

A female given name from English, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s.


Amber

From a form of the Hindi आसमान (āsmān, “the heavens”).


Amethyst

The Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Amelia Kelly.


Ana

From various languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, and Macedonian, all derived—sometimes via Late Latin Anna in the Vulgate—from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna, “Anna”), chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the New Testament in reference to Anna the Prophetess, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). As an Oregonian river, named for Ana Byars, daughter of the surveyor W.H. Byars. Doublet of Ann, Anne, Anna, and Hannah.

A female given name, equivalent to English Anna or Hannah.


Ana

An ethnicity within the Yoruba people, mostly living in Benin and Togo in West Africa.

The language within the Niger-Congo family spoken by the Ana people.


Anal

The Northern Kukish (Sino-Tibetan) language spoken by these people, sometimes called Namfau after the two largest villages it is spoken in.


Ange

A diminutive of the female given name Angela.

A diminutive of the male given name Angelo.


Angel

"What is your first name, Mr Botibol? What does the A stand for?" "Angel," he answered. "Not Angel." "Yes," he said irritably. "Angel Botibol," she murmured and she began to giggle. But she checked herself and said, "I think it's a most unusual and distinguished name."

1973, Roald Dahl, More Tales of the Unexpected: Mr Botibol:

A male given name from Latin Angelus [in turn from Ancient Greek], used since 16th century; or an anglicized spelling of Ángel.

A female given name from English of modern usage from the English noun angel.


Angelo

Borrowed from Italian Angelo. Doublet of Angel.

I haue deliuerd to Lord Angelo / (A man of ſtricture and firme abſtinence) / My abſolute power, and place here in Vienna,

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 63, column 2:

Luigi — Angelo. They're lovely names; and so grand and foreign — not like Jones and Robinson and such.

1897, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “[Pudd’nhead Wilson] Chapter V”, in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson: And the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 74:


Angelus

* (given name): From Latin Angelus and its etymon Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “angel”).
* (common noun): From the first word (angelus) of its Latin incipit, "Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ": "the Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary".

der

A male given name from Ancient Greek, of rare usage, variant of Angelo.


Angle

Borrowed from Latin Anglus, in turn borrowed from a Germanic source (compare Old English Ængle/Engle (“Angle”)). Probably derived from the toponym Angle, related to Proto-Germanic *anguz "narrow, tight; tapering", either indicating the "narrow" water (i.e. the Schlei estuary), or the shape of the peninsula.
Folk etymology linking the word to English angel or any antecedents is demonstrably false.

(historical) A member of a Germanic tribe first mentioned by Tacitus, one of several which invaded Britain and merged to become the Anglo-Saxons; an Anglian.


Anna

From Late Latin Anna both directly and via numerous other languages, chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the Vulgate in reference to Anne the Prophetess, from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna) in the New Testament, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). As a city in Illinois, named for Anna Davie, wife of one of the initial settlers. Doublet of Ann, Anne, Ana, and Hannah.

Every lover the years disclose / Is of a beautiful name made free. / One befriends, and all others are foes. / Anna's the name of names for me.

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

M for Madeleine, M for Marguerite, M for Melanie and the rest, she thought, smiling as she remembered the long string of glamorous names they had invented for her. No wonder plain "Anna" had seemed a little disappointing!

1967, Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There, HarperCollins, published 2014, →ISBN, page 189:

His real name was Leonard, Len. He'd changed it when he came East. "Len," he said. "A turd of a name. Who wants it? I mean a name that ends in a nasalization, for Christ's sake. Leo now. It's like Anna. They go on forever. You can live with a name like that."

1986, Sue Miller, The Good Mother, G.K.Hall, published 1987, →ISBN, page 183:


Annie

Maxwelton braes are bonnie / Where early fa's the dew; / An' it's there that Annie Laurie / Gi'ed me her promise true.

c. 1700, William Douglas(?), Annie Laurie

I never thought of the most brilliant and elegant women in England quite so charming as she really is, till I heard her call her younger sister "Annie". It seemed to remove at once the almost repellent quality which belongs to extreme polish, - gave a genial warmth to her brightness, became her like a smile. - - - If she had called her sister Anna-Maria according to the register, I should have admired, and feared, and shunned her to my dying day.

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

"I want you to stop calling yourself by that silly name, Annie," Mrs. Marshall-Gill said clearly. "It's inappropriate and ridiculous and I don't like it. It may even be dishonest, I don't know. At any rate, you're to stop it at once. I looked up your registration, and your name is Annie, a solid, Christian name. You'll do well to abide by it."
"I don't like Annie," Jewel said.
"It suits your face," Mrs. Marshall-Gill said. A titter ran around the listening room.

1947, Hilda Lawrence, Death of a Doll, pages 39–40:

A diminutive of the female given name Ann. Also, a popular given name in the 19th century.


Ant

A diminutive of the male given name Anthony, from Latin.


Anu

A diminutive of the female given names Anushka, Anusha, Anisha, or Ansuya.


Anus

An Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia.


Anya

From Russian and Ukrainian А́ня (Ánja, informal pet form of А́нна (Ánna, “Ann”)). Also an Anglicization of Áine.

bor

informal pet form of <i class="Cyrl mention" lang="ru">А́нна</i> (Ánna, “Ann”)

Given a perfectly good American name like Ann, she has deliberately chosen to label herself "Anya" after a long-dead great-grandmother, and put jam in her tea.

1969, Constance Urdang, Natural History, Harper & Row, page 61:

A female given name from Russian or Ukrainian, of modern usage.

A female given name from Sanskrit, of modern usage.


Apollo

From Latin Apollō, from Ancient Greek Ἀπόλλων (Apóllōn).


Apple

en-proper noun

Apple (countable and uncountable, plural Apples)

From apple. As a surname, also an Americanized form of Appel or Apfel.

(rare, countable) A female given name from English.


Arcadian

en-adj

Arcadian (comparative more Arcadian, superlative most Arcadian)

more Arcadian (comparative)
most Arcadian (superlative)


Arcadian

A native or inhabitant of Arcadia (in Greece)

A native or inhabitant of Arcadia (in the US) or its suburbs.


Argentine

From Old French argentin (“silvery”), from Latin argentum (“silver”).

Fall River County
Fall River County#English

A township in Fall River County, South Dakota.


Art

A diminutive of the male given name Arthur, from the Celtic languages.


Ash

en-proper noun

Ash (countable and uncountable, plural Ashes)

Ash (deity)
Ash (disambiguation)#Places
Ash (name)

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.

A diminutive of the unisex given names Ashley or Ashleigh.

A diminutive of the female given names Ashlie, Ashlee, Ashly, or Ashanti.


Aspen

A female given name from English of modern usage, denominated for the aspen tree.


Au

A language spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.


August

Augusts (plural)
Aug (alternative)
Aug. (alternative)
Aguste (alternative)
Augost (alternative)

Bislama: ogis

Jamaican Creole: Augos, Aagos

Pitcairn-Norfolk: orgas

Tok Pisin: ogas

→ Burmese: ဩဂုတ် (au:gut)

→ Chichewa: Ogasiti

desctree

→ Dari: اگست (ogast), اکست (akast)
→? Urdu: اگست (agast)

→ Hausa: Agusta

→ Hawaiian: ʻAukake

→ Hindi: अगस्त (agast)

→ Malay: Ogos

→ Maori: Ākuhata

→ Marshallese: O̧kwōj

→ Pohnpeian: Ahkos

→ Swahili: Agosti

→ Tokelauan: Aukuho

→ Tongan: ʻAokosi

Early Middle English August(us), re-Latinized from Old English Agustus, from Late Latin Agustus, from Latin augustus (“month of August”), from the agnomen Augustus (“venerable”) of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, possibly from either Old Latin *augos (“increase”), from Proto-Italic *augos, from Proto-Indo-European base *h₂ewg- (“to increase”); or Latin avis (“bird”), referring to divination by observing bird flights, singing, feeding or entrails + garrīre (“to chatter”).

August, Charis named her, because that's when she was born. Warm breezes, baby powder, languorous heat, the smell of mown hay. Such a soft name. Too soft for her daughter, who has added an a. Augusta, she is now — a very different resonance. Marble statues, Roman noses, tight-lipped commanding mouths.

1993, Margaret Atwood, Robber Bride, Virago Press, published 2013, →ISBN, page 48:

A female given name from English derived from the month (rare modern usage).


August

In some cases a month name from English. In other cases inspired by the common German given name August, from Latin Augustus.

Thirteen year old August is the eldest; he begins to pull the kite downward. Like his sister and brother, June and July, he has been named after the month in which he was born.

1974, Witi Ihimaera, Whanau, Heinemann, page 76:

San Joaquin County
San Joaquin County#English

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


Aura

en-proper noun

Aura (countable and uncountable, plural Auras)

Aura Lea, Aura Lea, / Maid with golden hair;

1861 W. W. Fosdick - George R. Poulton, Aura Lea (a song)

A diminutive of the female given name Aurelia, from Latin.


Aurora

/ʔaʊ̯ˈɾo.ɾɐ/

Aurora (disambiguation)
Gérard de Lairesse
Manuel Quezon

Ultimately from Latin Aurōra. The Philippine placenames were named after First Lady Aurora Quezon, the wife of Pres. Manuel Quezon, the 2nd president of the Philippines.

How will they know! Why, my name is all over them: my silly, unhappy name. Oh, if I had only been christened Mary Jane, or Gladys, Muriel, or Beatrice, or Francesca, or Guinevere, or something quite common. But Aurora! Aurora! I'm the only Aurora in London; and everybody knows it. I believe I'm the only Aurora in the world. And it's so horribly easy to rhyme to it!

1904, George Bernard Shaw, How He Lied to Her Husband:

A female given name from Latin, in regular use since the 19th century.


Autumn

A female given name from English of modern usage, from autumn, the name of the season.


Avril

20th-century invention from French avril (“April”).

Avril Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter.

Granny Byrne never failed to explain that Avril had been given her name because she was born in April.

1996, Maeve Binchy, This Year It Will Be Different: A Christmas Treasury, Hachette UK, published 2008, →ISBN:

A female given name from French, equivalent to English April.


Axel

From Danish Aksel, first used for the bishop and statesman Absalon Hvide (1128–1201), from biblical Absalom. Some sources suggest that the bishop was originally named Áskell, from Old Norse "god" + "cauldron, helmet", and Absalon was chosen as the nearest-sounding Christian equivalent, leading to the exchange of the middle consonants.

A male given name from the Germanic languages in quiet use since the 19th century.


Äynu

A language of China with elements of Turkic grammar and Iranian vocabulary, usually classified as Turkic.


Bailey

Bailie (alternative)
Baily (alternative)
Bayly (alternative)
Bayley (alternative)
Bailee (alternative)
Baylee (alternative)

A male given name transferred from the surname.

(chiefly US) A female given name transferred from the surname.

Sherburne County
Sherburne County#English

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Sherburne County, Minnesota.


Bantu

en-noun

Bantu (countable and uncountable, plural Bantus or Bantu)

From Proto-Bantu *bàntʊ̀ pl (“people”), as reconstructed by the 19th-century linguist Wilhelm Bleek.

(South Africa, dated, now offensive, ethnic slur) A black South African.


Bar

A diminutive of the female given name Barbara.


Barak

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin, often representing a transliteration of a modern Israeli name.


Barak

From Arabic بَارَك (bārak, “he who is blessed”). Cognate with the biblical name Baruch of Hebrew origin. The usage of the root ب ر ك (b r k) as a male name meaning "blessing" occurs in the Ancient Semitic Sabean (barqac), in Palmyrene (baraq), and as a Divine name in Assyrian Ramman-Birqu and Gibil-Birqu


Bari

Borrowed from Italian Bari, ultimately from Latin Barium.


Bari

Synonym of Motilon (“a people of Colombia”)


Bari

A tribe of Karo, Nilotic people inhabiting South Sudan, who speak the Bari language.


Basil

Name of several early saints, particularly in the Orthodox Church, from Latin Basilius, from Ancient Greek Βασίλειος (Basíleios). Doublet of Vasilios and Vasily.

"Nonsense. I'm sure he can't have grey hair with such a pretty name as that. Basil Brooke, Basil Brooke," and May chanted the name over and over in her girlish, musical voice. "It sounds like all sorts of pleasant pictures. - -

1866, Eliza Tabor Stephenson, Hester's Sacrifice, volume II, Hust and Blackett, page 28:

A male given name from Ancient Greek, in quiet but steady use in the UK.


Batak

The Palawan Batak language (not closely related to the above).


Bavarian

/bəˈvɑɹ̠iən/

/bəˈvɛəɹɪən/

A German dialect spoken in Bavaria (a state of southern West Germany) and Austria, which varies considerably across different regions.


Baz

There was me and Baz – Barry Stevens, my DS – in one car.

2003, Peter Robinson, Aftermath: An Inspector Banks Mystery, unnumbered page:

(British, Ireland, Australia) A diminutive of the male given name Barry.

That's what Baz—Basil Younger——said when I put it to him.

2005, Reginald Hill, Who Guards a Prince, page 169:

(British, Ireland, Australia) A diminutive of the male given name Basil.


Bea

A diminutive of the female given name Beatrice.


Beau

Shortened from surname type given names such as Beauregard or Beaumont, or from the French word beau.

'Mees Melly, I hear she call her boy "Beauregard". You tell her I, René, approve and say that except for "Jesus" there is no bettaire name.' And though he smiled, his eyes glowed proudly at the name of Louisiana's dashing hero. 'Well, there's "Robert Edward Lee" ', observed Tommy. 'And while I'm not trying to lessen Old Beau's reputation, my first son is going to be named "Bob Lee Wellburn".'

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXV, 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 used since mid-twentieth century.


Beaver

en-proper noun

Beaver (countable and uncountable, plural Beavers)

* As an English surname, capitalization of beaver. This sense is also translated from several Native American names such as Cheyenne homa'e and Creek Echaswvlke of the same meaning. Doublet of Bieber and Bever.
* Also as an English surname, from the placename Belvoir in Leicestershire.

Marinette County
Marinette County#English

A town and unincorporated community therein, in Marinette County, Wisconsin.


Bell

Bell (countable and uncountable, plural Bells)

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

[…] I found that her Christian name was Isabella, which they shortened into Bell, and that the name of the deceased non-commissioned officer was Tott. Being the kind of neat little woman it was natural to make a toy of—I never saw a woman so like a toy in my life—she had got the plaything name of Belltott. In short, she had no other name on the island.

1857, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in The Perils of Certain English Prisoners:

A female given name, variant of Belle; mostly used as a middle name in the 19th century.


Bella

From Italian: a diminutive of Isabella and Arabella, by folk etymology interpreted as bella (“beautiful”).


Belle

From French belle (“beauty, beautiful”), from Latin bella.

All the miniature Cinderellas, Belles, and Ariels who fill the streets every Halloween are essentially paying homage to characters that will slowly and inevitably chip away at their sense of worth in years to come.

2018, Jen Kim, Love and…: Bad Boys, “The One” & Other Fun Ways to Sabotage Your Relationship, Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN:


Ben

Ben wolved down a digestive biscuit, then stretched out on his stomach on the flagstones beside them.

1990, Peter James, Sweet Heart, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →ISBN, page 156:

After a moment of comfortable silence, with Ben tenderly rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand, he asked, “So what do you want to do now that you’re all stuffed full of waffley goodness?”

2013, Victoria J. Hyla, Running in the Mists (Hearts Drawn Wyld Trilogy; 2), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 300:

But Andy and Ben, they are lovers, not fighters … and they are going the battered sav.

2016 September 11, Emily Power, “Main bathroom reveals on The Block: hold on for the bathroom without a toot”, in Domain News:

A shortening of the male given name Benjamin or, less often, of Benedict.


Benedict

Benedict (countable and uncountable, plural Benedicts)

From Saint Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order, from Late Latin benedictus (“blessed, well spoken of”), from Latin benedīcō (“I bless, I speak well of”). Doublet of Bennett, Benoit, and Benito.

der

(countable) A male given name from Latin, particularly of the sixth-century founder of the Benedictine order, and of several popes.


Benjamin

en-proper noun

Benjamin (countable and uncountable, plural Benjamins)

From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".

cog

بِنْ يَومِين

Arabic بِنْ يَومِين

"Well, who the hell ever thinks some boy with a name like Benjamin is going to kill someone?" I said. "It's like someone named Winnie the Pooh taking hostages!"

2007, Mark Schreiber, Starcrossed, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 53:

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


Benny

From the name of a dull-witted character, Benny Hawkins, in the British soap opera Crossroads.


Benny

en-noun

Benny (countable and uncountable, plural Bennys or Bennies)

This special version of eggs Benedict will win the hearts of all the Benny fans out there.

This would definitely be a Becca-approved Benedict, which sings high praise. The girl knows her Bennys.

2014 June 17, Ally, “Chalk Point Kitchen Brunch”, in Bitches who Brunch, archived from the original on 2019-07-27:


Benny

Sudbury District
Sudbury District#English

A community in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada, named after W. W. Benny.


Beryl

A unisex given name from English derived from the gem beryl.

A female given name from English derived from the gem beryl.

(rare) A male given name from English derived from the gem beryl.


Beth

Ogles, an entrepreneur, will defeat state House Speaker Beth Harwell and retired Brig. Gen. Kurt Winstead.

2022 August 4, Rachel Janfaza, “Andy Ogles will win GOP nomination in redrawn Tennessee 5th District, CNN projects”, in CNN:

A diminutive of the female given names Elizabeth or Bethany.


Betty

People in the last century weren't afraid of homely names; now we are all so smart and fine: no more "Lady Bettys" now.

1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, chapter 10, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:

But Mrs. Betty Carver respects tradition, and this, I'm afraid, is ours. - - - She smells like expensive soap and her teeth are shiny-white. She does not in any way look like her name. It's not her fault that she was born in a time when people believed in names like Wanda, Dottie and Betty. She's more of a Vanessa or Paulina.

1991, Peter Hedges, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Simon & Schuster, published 1999, →ISBN, page 60:

A diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.


Bianca

en-proper noun

Bianca (countable and uncountable, plural Biancas)

From Italian Bianca, equivalent of English Blanche.

Sweet Bianca! Happy man be his dole! He that runs fastest gets the ring.

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 I, scene i]:


Bill

Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.

"My other name's Bill," he said. "I was christened Bill but Mr Thursgood calls me William." / "Bill, eh. The unpaid Bill. Anyone ever call you that?" / "No, sir." / "Good name, anyway." / "Yes, sir." / "Known a lot of Bills. They've all been good 'uns."

1974, John le Carré, Tinker. Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Simon&Schuster, published 2002, →ISBN, page 7:

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 diminutive of the male given name William.


Billy

“By the way,” Jessamy went on, “what’s your other name? You never told me.” “Stubbs,” said Billy, “William Stubbs!”.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 98:

Μπίλι

a diminutive of the male given name William — see also Bill


Bingo

Bingo! Bingo! Where is the rascal, I wonder. […] ENTER Bingo, r. 2, with glass of cream, […]

1903, Charles Walcott Russell, “Act I”, in The Prisoner of Andersonville: A Military Drama in Four Acts, New York, N.Y.: Dick & Fitzgerald, […], →OCLC, pages 7–8:

Our dog, Bingo, was determined not to be left behind; […]

1945, Ernest M. Wampler, “Living in a Cave Home and Moving to Liao”, in China Suffers or My Six Years of Work During the Incident, Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Publishing House, →OCLC, part 1 (The Coming of the Japanese Army), page 45:

Marco stopped to talk with a boy named Bingo Brown. Bingo was eating frozen peas from a supermarket package.

1956, Jean Merrill, The Travels of Marco, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →LCCN:


Bit

An Austroasiatic language spoken in China and Laos.


Blanche

From Old French blanc (“white”). The surname originated as a nickname, or as a matronymic.


Blase

A rather rare spelling variant of Blaise, from Latin Blasius.


Bliss

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

"Mother doesn't seem to especially like her little granddaughter as it is, even named 'Edna Louise'. D'you think she's going to like her better, named 'Bliss' like some sexpot pop star or some Indian-mystic asshole-charlatan?"
Betsey winced. "Bliss" was a beautiful name!

2008, Joyce Carol Oates, My Sister, My Love, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 97:

(rare) A unisex given name from English.


Blitz

Specific use of blitz. The Blitz was in truth not a blitzkrieg, which is a rapid ground offensive based on superior tank forces. However, the word was current at the time for the successful German campaigns in Poland and France, and was transferred to the attacks on Britain, perhaps by association of Blitz (“lightning”) with the bombings.

(historical) The series of air raids launched on various cities in Great Britain by the German air force in 1940–41 during World War II.


Bloody Mary

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


Blue

From the German surname, Americanized from Blau or its French cognate Bleu.

(rare) A female given name from English, typically used in conjoined names like Bonnie Blue or Blue Bell.

A male nickname, occasionally used as a formal given name. (Australia) Nickname for a person with ginger hair.


Blue

This Blue shows the remarkable, sleek bodyline of the breed.

2001, Alan Edwards, The New Guide to Cat Breeds, page 89:

Synonym of British Blue (“a breed of cat”)


Blues

In reference to the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine racing faction, a calque of Latin venetī (“Sea-Blues”) or factio veneta (“the sea-blue faction”) and Byzantine Greek Βένετοι (Bénetoi, “Blues”).

bor

(informal) Any of several sports teams whose uniform is predominantly blue, such as:


Bo

Either borrowed from modern Danish Bo or Swedish Bo, or a spelling variant of the male given name Beau.

A male given name from the Germanic languages in occasional use since the 1970s.


Bob

Probably from a medieval hypocorism of Rob.

Miramax Films cofounders Bob and Harvey Weinstein will end their successful, but often tumultuous, 12-year relationship with The Walt Disney Company to launch their own media company.

2005 March 30, “Miramax founders leave Disney”, in The Guardian:

A diminutive of the male given name Robert.


Bobby

Bobbie (alternative)
Bobbi (alternative)

It was a real irritation to Robert's parents to hear Adeline call him Bobby. They tried to intimate their disapproval by pronouncing his name very distinctly when they addressed him.

1944, Mazo de la Roche, The Building of Jalna, Dundurn Press Ltd, published 2009, →ISBN, page 163:

A diminutive of the female given name Roberta.


Bobo

A barangay of Piagapo, Lanao del Sur, Philippines.


Bokmål

Borrowed from Norwegian bokmål (literally “book language”). The equivalent Old Norse bókamál was used in this sense as a name for Latin, as it was the primary language used for writing of biblical work in much of the Middle Ages. The modern Icelandic name for Norwegian Bokmål is bókmál. When dialect research in western Norway was pioneered by Ivar Aasen in the 1850s, bogmaal took on the meaning of written standard language, as opposed to spoken dialects and Aasen's synthesized landsmaal. The two Norwegian languages, standardized in 1907, changed names in 1929 from landsmål to nynorsk, and from riksmål to bokmål.

One of the two major written standards of Norwegian, literally meaning “book language”.


Brad

A diminutive of the male given names Bradley, Bradly, or Bradford, also used as a formal given name.


Brandy

A female given name from English derived from brandy, an alcoholic liquor. Mostly seen in American usage during the 1970s and 1980s.


Brett

Related to Breton, Brittany, and more distantly Briton.

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.


Brody

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Brook

Audio (US)

* As an English surname, from the noun brook.
* As a north German surname, from Low German Brook (“swamp, marsh”), related to the above.
* As a Dutch surname, Americanized from Broek, from broek, also related to the above.
* As a Jewish and German surname, Americanized from Bruck, Bruch (from Bruch (“wetland, marsh”)).

Brooke (alternative)
Brooks (alternative)

A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Brooks.

A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage, variant of Brooke.

A village and civil parish in Ashford borough, Kent (OS grid ref TR0644).


Bu

(organic chemistry) Abbreviation of butyl.


Bud

(rare, chiefly Southern US) A male given name from English.


Butler

en-proper noun

Butler (countable and uncountable, plural Butlers)

Butler (surname)
en:Butler (disambiguation)

* (English surname): From Middle English Butler.
* (Anglicized surname): From French Boutilier, Boutillier, Bouthillier.
* (placename): From the surname


C

(UK politics, in election results) Abbreviation of Conservative.


Calliope

From Latin Calliope, from Ancient Greek Καλλιόπη (Kalliópē), from κᾰλλῐ- (kăllĭ-, “beautiful”) + ὄψ (óps, “voice”).


Cam

A diminutive of the male given name Cameron.


Camilla

en-proper noun

Camilla (countable and uncountable, plural Camillas)

From Latin Camilla, feminine form of old Roman family name Camillus, of obscure and probably non-Latin origin.

Fancy southern names which she couldn't remember five minutes after they'd told her. Camilla? Amelia? Jemima? It didn't matter. Ashworth would have made a note of them.

2011, Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 165:


Canadien

(Canada) A French Canadian (male or of unspecified sex).


Candy

A pet form of the female given name Candace or Candice.


Cantonese

en-noun

Cantonese (countable and uncountable, plural Cantonese)

廣東話 /广东话

Kńg-tang-ōe / Kúiⁿ-tang-ōa / Kńg-tang-ōa

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:

(uncountable) A Sinitic language mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of Mainland China, Guangdong (Canton), Hong Kong, Macau, by the Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia and by many overseas Chinese worldwide.

(uncountable) A dialect of the Cantonese language, spoken in Guangzhou (Canton), Hong Kong, Macau, and treated as the standard dialect of the Cantonese language.

Cantonese dialect

the dialect of Cantonese language treated as standard

Hoisanese/Toisanese/Taishanese

the Cantonese subdialect spoken in the Greater Hoi San area, with subsubdialects

Hong Kong Cantonese

the dialect spoken in Hong Kong and Macau


Car

The most widespread of the Nicobarese languages spoken in the Nicobar Islands of India (ISO 839-3 code "caq").


Carl

From Germanic, cognate with English Charles.
* From German and other north European Carl and Karl.
* From Latin Carolus.

Of course you know that Carl Duruside, or 'Doctor Carl', as he is always called by almost anybody, is my husband's brother?

1882, “Doctor Carl”, in Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours, volume 31, F. Leslie Pub. Co., page 293:

And Thomas Carlyle is nine. They call him Carl, and he has a regular mania for collecting toads and bugs and frogs and bringing them into the house.

1919 Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rainbow Valley, 1st World Publishing (2007), page 19

I'd weave through the throng — scanning for empties to return while flirting, sniffing out kids smoking grass and sharing smokes with Ivor and Carl on the door. With a name like Carl you can imagine a six-foot tall and wide bouncer, but Ivor...

2004, David W. Scott, The Disillusioned: A Story of Our Times, Fraser Books, →ISBN, page 204:

A male given name from the Germanic languages, equivalent to English Charles.

Kërl

transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"


Caro

She hadn't realized that 'Caro' was a diminutive of Caroline until she met Jonathan. It sounded very Regency, like in all those historical novels she used to read when she was younger. Much younger. Of course, he came from the kind of background - county - where people are called 'Caroline'. And Lucy and Amanda and Jemima, so he should know.

2004, Kate Atkinson, Case Histories, →ISBN, pages 96–97:

A diminutive of the female given name Caroline.


Carol

Shortened from Caroline. Associated by folk etymology with the English noun carol.

Carol is fifteen years old and I'm sixteen. Her name is really Caroline, but she hates it and wants to be called Carol - it's so much prettier.

1873, Mary Mapes Dodge, St. Nicholas: A Monthly Magazine for Boys and Girls, page 179:

"Holly, would you mind if I named my little girl 'Holly'? I mean, it's right around Christmas time, and I always think of holly with Christmas. I like the name Carol, too, like Christmas carol. I heard once that the name Carol means 'song of joy'".

2006, Joyce Winters, Let Your Light Shine, →ISBN, page 209:

A female given name from the Germanic languages, popular in the middle of the 20th century.


Carol

Shortened from Latin Carolus; also an Anglicization of Romanian Carol, or Polish or Slovak Karol, all cognates of the English Charles.

This table shows the curious fact that little Prince Carol of Roumania (who is at once the great-grandson and the third cousin of Queen Victoria) has a better hereditary right to the British Throne than Her Majesty.

1899, The English Illustrated Magazine, MacMillan and Co., item notes V.21, page 295

What splendid names for boys there are!
There's Carol like a rolling car […]

1933, Eleanor Farjeon, Over the Garden Wall: Boys' Names:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Cat

A diminutive of the female given names Catherine or Caitlin.


Ce

"No offense, Celia, but I prefer to travel through my madness in my own space. You'll have to get your own padded room and restraints."
"Rude," Ce said, humor in her tone.

A diminutive of the female given name Celia.


Charisma

From the common noun charisma, from Ancient Greek χάρισμα (khárisma).


Charity

From charity in the Biblical sense of Christian love; first used by Puritans. In early Christian tradition, Faith, Hope and Charity were the martyred daughters of Saint Sophia. The names, taken from 1 Corinthians 13:13 ("And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity") have been translated and used in many languages.
The name of the sura (chapter) is one of several translations of the original Arabic.

By Gis and by Saint Charity, / Alack, and fie for shame!

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:

Never did any woman better deserve her name, which was Charity — Aunt Charity, as everybody called her. And like a sister of charity did this charitable Aunt Charity bustle about hither and thither, ready to turn her hand and heart to anything that promised to yield safety, comfort, and consolation to all on board a ship in which her beloved brother Bildad was concerned, and in which she herself owned a score or two of well-saved dollars.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 20, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

Tessa giggled. 'What a dreadful name! Is she really called Charity?'
'Yes. She really is.' Mark recalled how glorious the name of Charity had sounded to him in the beginning. 'It's not her fault she's called Charity,' he added defensively.

1989, Ann Oakley, The Men's Room, Atheneum, →ISBN, page 223:

সদকা

female given name meaning Christian love


Chas

From Chas.; Originally an abbreviation of "Charles".

A diminutive of the male given name Charles.


Chase

en-proper noun

Chase (countable and uncountable, plural Chases)

en:Chase
en:Chase (surname)
en:Chase#Places

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


Chat

Its redundancy of creative work and in terms of chat how people can use it as a cheat basically, you don't have to do essays for school when you can ask chat to do it for you, which forces teachers to have to take this tool into account, and a kid here has said his honest essay has been flagged as "AI made" by his teacher, it's really tricky

2023 August 9, u/MiguelIstNeugierig, “Give me your best yo mama jokes and chatgpt will rate them out of 10 with a review”, in Reddit, r/teenagers, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:

I asked chat to pick a draft to post and it said they all suck

2024 March 21, @Nexuist, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:

My relative works for the Canadian government, and half her office uses chat to create all sorts of internal comms. I'm just waiting for the leak lmao

2024 March 21, u/lolar44, “When you delete a conversation, ChatGPT actually hides it instead of deleting it.”, in Reddit, r/ChatGPT, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:

I asked Chat to write a paragraph about graphene oxide in LNPs. This is the response.

2024 July 28, @GMOScience, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:

i be using chat to make study plans for me 😭

2024 September 13, @cjoffiah, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:

TiL the kids are calling Chat-GPT just "chat". Usage from my 20yo, "I bet he used Chat to write that apology"

2024 September 14, @matthew_mullins_, Threads, archived from the original on 2024-09-27:


Cher

A short form of the female given name Cherilyn, popularized as a given name by the singer Cher.


Cherry

'As you knows Mrs Chuzzlewit, you knows, p’raps, what her chris’en name is?' Mrs Gamp observed.
'Charity,' said Bailey.
'That it ain’t!' cried Mrs Gamp.
'Cherry, then,' said Bailey. 'Cherry's short for it. It’s all the same.'

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

A female given name from English, a pet form of Charity, also interpreted as a flower name.


Chinaman

From Chinese Pidgin English. Calque of Chinese 中國人 /中国人 (Zhōngguórén) ("China + -man"). Applied also to ships by analogy with East Indiaman.

cal

A disorderly Chinaman is rare, and a lazy one does not exist. So long as a Chinaman has strength to use his hands he needs no support from anybody; white men often complain of want of work, but a Chinaman offers no such complaint; he always manages to find something to do.[…]Any white man can swear a Chinaman’s life away in the courts, but no Chinaman can testify against a white man.

1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 391:

Another favorite pastime of the Highbinder who is usually a loafer, is to levy blackmail on a wealthy Chinaman.[…]If it were not that the Chinamen kill only men of their own race and let alone all other men, the citizens of San Francisco would have sacked and burned Chinatown.

1906, Hubert D. Russell, editor, Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror, 1906, published 2003, page 251:

On the flat behind the mill, dawn-rising Chinamen shogged with nimble bare feet under their yoke-linked watering-cans. These busy brethren, meeting sometimes on the same narrow track, would pause, ant-like, seemingly to dumbly regard one another and their burdens, then, still ant-like, pass silently to their work.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 147:

"It is my fly-trap!" shrieked the Chinaman. "And I am the god of destruction!"

1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 25, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:

The carts rattle by, swinging from side to side; two Chinamen lollop along under their wooden yokes with the straining vegetable baskets—their pigtails and blue blouses fly out in the wind.

1920 August 27, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “The Wind Blows”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 137:

1941, George Ade, Stories of the Streets and of the Town: From the Chicago Record 1893 - 1900, reprinted as 2003, Stories of Chicago, page 163,
In Clark Street, where all the nations of the earth dwell together in harmony, one has but to go downstairs to find a Chinaman. And when found he is washing.

America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.

1956, Allen Ginsberg, “America”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 33:

Diner Employee: How long you been standing there, you freak?
Diner Customer: What are you, a Chinaman?
Xavier (Vernon Chatman): I wish I knew myself.
Diner Employee: We don't cotton to strange Chinamen with no sense of self who stand secretly by for indeterminate amounts of time. Gonna put you in a world of hurt.

2007, Xavier: Renegade Angel, season 1, episode 6:

(dated, now offensive) A Chinese person, or person of Chinese descent.


Chip

"What else? Anyway, here's the genealogy: Charles Junior's only son is Charles the Third - like royalty. He goes by Chip - Cassie's daddy. The mom is Cindy. The dead son was Chad - Charles the Fourth."
"All Cs," I said. "Sounds like they like order."

1993, Jonathan Kellerman, Devil's Waltz, Random House, published 1998, →ISBN, page 26:

A diminutive of the male given names Christopher and Charles.


Chuck

The digital ads open over a shot of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, while a narrator declares: “For years, it paralyzed Washington: Partisan political dysfunction.”

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

A form of the male given name Charles, of mostly American usage.


Claire

Borrowed from French Claire, also a spelling variant of the English Clare.

Clare (alternative)
Clair (alternative)
Klaire (alternative)
Klair (alternative)
Klare (alternative)

"I told you I was called ,or that they called me Claire. Were you not surprised when you saw my name as Clarissa Lambert?"
"Is that all?" I cried. "Why of course, I knew how common it is for actresses to take another name. I was even glad of it; for the name I know, your own name, is now a secret, and all the sweeter so. All the world admires Clarissa Lambert, but I alone love Claire Luttrell, and know that Claire Luttrell loves me."

1887, Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, Dead Man's Rock., BiblioBazaar,LLC, published 2007, →ISBN, page 198:

A woman named Claire should be able to describe the moon. Clair de Lune was of course one of Claire's favourite pieces of piano music.

2006, Wendy Harmer, Farewell My Ovaries, Allen&Unwin, →ISBN, page 93:

When we arrived in Hangchow, all the pilots were honored at a big banquet given by that famous American general with a lady's name, Claire Chennault.

1991, Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife, Ivy Books, →ISBN, page 203:

A male given name transferred from the surname, of rare usage, variant of Clare.


Cliff

The given name is from shortenings of the diminutives. The surname is from the noun cliff.

A diminutive of the male given name Clifford or Clifton.


Cocoa

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


Codes

A diminutive of the male given name Cody.


Cole

en-prop

Cole (countable and uncountable, plural Coles)

The surname is variously from:
# A nickname from Old English col (“coal, coal-black”),
# A patronymic from Nicholas (see also Coles, Colson, Colle).
# A variation of Cowell (which itself has several origins).
# As an Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, variant of McCool.
# As a German surname, Americanized from Kohl.
# As a Dutch surname, Americanized from Kool.
# As a French surname, Americanized/calqued from Charbonneau, influenced by the first sense.

A diminutive of the male given name Nicholas.

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A few years later when Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term “stepmom.” Instead they came up with the name “Momala.”

2024 July 21, Kamala Harris, “Kamala Harris on Being ‘Momala’”, in ELLE:


Commons

Commons (disambiguation)#People
House of Commons

(UK politics, Canadian politics) The House of Commons, part of the parliament under the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy.


Con

A male given name, a diminutive form of Conor or Cornelius.

(UK politics) Abbreviation of Conservative.


Conner

Connor (alternative)
Conor (alternative)


Conor

From Irish Conchúr, from Old Irish Conchobar (“lover of hounds”).

Connor (alternative)
Conner (alternative)


Coral

"Where are you from originally, Coral?" / "Indiana." / "Lots of Corals out there, I bet." / She hesitated, seemed about to flare, and then smiled instead, showing a little gap between two front teeth. "Well, it was Cora Lucille, I guess, " she said, still smiling, looking very much like a Cora Lucille in that moment.

1990, Ed McBain, Vespers, Mandarin, published 1991, →ISBN, page 78:


Corrie

en-proper noun

Corrie (countable and uncountable, plural Corries)

From Scottish Gaelic coire (“cauldron, boiler; corrie”), which denotes a bowl-shaped geographical feature similar to a cirque.

der

A village in the isle of Arran, in North Ayrshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS0242).

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


Corrie

A diminutive of the female given names Cora or Corinne, or borrowed from the Dutch pet form of Cornelia.


Cree

⇒ Irish: Craís

From a phonetic rendering of Canadian French Cris, short for Christinaux, from either Algonquin Kirishtinó, or Cree Kenisteniwuik.

The Algonquian language or dialect continuum spoken by this people.

кры

Algonquian language spoken by this people


Cree

Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway#English

A river in Dumfries and Galloway council area, Scotland, which flows into the Solway Firth and Irish Sea.


Creek

* As an English surname, from Creake in Norfolk, a variant of the noun crag (“steep rugged cliff”).
* Also as an English surname, from the archaic noun cratch (“crib, manger”).
* As a German surname, Americanized from Krieg (“war, warfare”), Krück, Kruck (see Krug (“jug”) and Krücke (“crutch”)), Krick.
* As a Dutch surname, Americanized from Kreek (from the noun kreek (“creek”), see creek) and Kriek (from kriek (“cherry”)).
* The Native American tribe name is likely shortened from Ocheese Creek.

One of a Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, also known as the Muscogee.


Creek

The Muskogean language of the Creek tribe.


Crow

From French gens de corbeaux, calque of Dakota apsáaloke (“crow people”). Compare Crow Apsáalooke.

calque

(linguistics) The Siouan language of this tribe.


Curt

A male given name from the Germanic languages, an anglicized spelling of Kurt


Dahlia

From the flower dahlia in the 19th century.

The girls' names were April, Corinne, Gloria, Susannah, and Dahlia. I thought these names fanciful and lovely and would have liked the daughters' looks to match them, as if they were the beautiful children of an ogre in a fairy tale.

2006, Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 175:

He was afraid that Delia or Della might mention a cousin named Dahlia, and he would laugh. Sweet Jesus, do not let me laugh inappropriately.

2020, Marilynne Robinson, Jack, Hachette UK, →ISBN:


Dai

A diminutive of the male given name David, from Welsh.


Daisy

From the flower daisy, one of the flower names dating from the 19th century. Also a nickname for Margaret, since Marguerite and Margarita are identical with the French and Spanish word for "daisy".

Mrs. Fairfax kept always an eye upon him, and in spite of his familiarity with her, so restrained him in his intercourse with Margaret, that he could not for his life call her Daisy any more, though he had done so on the first day of their acquaintance.

1867, Alice Cary, The Bishop's Son, G. W. Carleton&Co, published 1867, page 31:

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do! / I'm half crazy all for the love of you!

1892, Harry Dacre (lyrics and music), “Daisy Bell”:

She was a timid, sensitive girl, looking like her name - Daisy-ish industrious and thorough in her studies; - - -

1929, Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel, Modern Library, published 1957, page 45:

"Isn't she a Christian or something - a name which is..."
"Nothing more than the name of a flower, that's all. Daisy is a flower." He realized he was not sure what flower it was. "It's a most lovely flower grown in America, England, and so forth. What is wrong with that name?"

1976, R. K. Narayan, The Painter of Signs, Penguin Classics, published 1982, →ISBN, page 115:


Dale

A unisex given name transferred from the surname.

A female given name transferred from the surname.


Dan

Traditionally held to be derived from Hebrew דָּן (Dan), although recent scholars instead link the name to Denyen], the Sea Peoples.

A male given name from Hebrew, derived from the son of Jacob.

"Directoritis strikes again!" bemoans Dan Sullivan, who believes that the director of Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon replaces the characters' intellectual and verbal energy with "transparent rationalizations for the personal hang-ups of the characters […]

1988, Richard H. Palmer, The Critics' Canon: Standards of Theatrical Reviewing in America:

In Welland, a blue-collar burg between Buffalo and Toronto, [Daniel] Paille’s and [Dan] Girardi’s friends, relatives and fans will tune in to the latest installment of what some have labeled the Battle of Welland or the Battle of the Dans.

2013 May 22, Matt Higgins, “A Bruin and a Ranger Share a Bond While Dividing a City”, in The New York Times:

A male given name from Hebrew & nickname, derived from the prophet Daniel.


Dari

Borrowed from Classical Persian دری (darī), of disputed origin, probably from دربار (darbār, “royal court”). The term was adopted by the government of Afghanistan in 1964 as the official name of the varieties of Persian spoken in the country, which has become the most common usage of the term since.

bor+

The variety of the Persian language that is chiefly used in Afghanistan, contrasted with varieties spoken elsewhere such as Iranian Persian or Tajik.

دَرِيَّة

variety of Persian spoken in Afghanistan

(historical, now less common) A variety of Middle Persian which served as the court language of the late Sasanian Empire.

A language primarily spoken in the Yazd and Kerman areas of Iran.


Darling

The Australian aboriginal language Baagandji, spoken along this river in New South Wales.


Dawn

"Thomas, if it's a boy," she said, "after my uncle. But if it's a girl I'd like something fancy for a first name."
"What about Dawn?" she said. "I like the sound of Dawn. Then Mary for a second name. Dawn Mary Parker, it sounds sweet."

1958, MurielSpark, The Go-away Bird: With Other Stories, Macmillan 1958, page 20 ("The Black Madonna")

Dawn, go away, I’m no good for you.

1964 Bob Gaudio - Sandy Linzer, Dawn (a song)

A female given name from English sometimes given to a girl born at that time of day.


Dean

en-proper noun

Dean (countable and uncountable, plural Deans)

The surname or given name is of multiple origins, depending on context:
* As an English surname, from Middle English dene (“valley”).
* Also as an English surname, from the noun dean. Cognate to Deacon.
* Also as an English surname, from the personal name Deyne, a rhyming form of Reynald (see Reginald).
* As an Irish surname, variant of Deane.
* As a Scottish surname, from Dean Castle in Kilmarnock, itself from the noun meaning valley.
* Old English Dene (“Dane, Norseman”)
* Hebrew דין (“law, judgment”) and Arabic دين (“way of life, creed”)

(countable) A male given name transferred from the surname or originating as an occupation derived from the title.


Del

(British) A diminutive of the male given name Derek.


Den

A diminutive of the male given name Dennis.


Des

Short form of the male given name Desmond.


Destiny

The man smiled and extended his hand. "I'm Cole." Rebecca took his hand. "Destiny." She'd chosen the name because she felt as though she'd discovered just that the day she realized what her mission in life was to be.

2010, Dwayne S. Joseph, Eye for an Eye, Urban Soul, published 2010, →ISBN:


Deutsch

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

PIE word
 *tewtéh₂
Borrowed from German Deutsch (“German”). Doublet of Dutch and Doitsu.

Riley's father, Reuben, spoke Deutsch in his boyhood home and did not learn to speak English until after his childhood even though he came from Irish roots. Riley's ancestors kept alive many of the old folktales and stories of their lives. Few of these Deutsch tales survive.

1997, Thomas E. Q. Williams, James Whitcomb Riley: the poet as flying islands of the night, page 76:

This letter had to be written in Deutsch because neither Paul nor Harriet knew Danish.

2002, Richard Braden, Escape from Europe, page 102:

“We sing our Sunday hymns a cappella, too,” Sadie said. “But Amish songs are very different from yours. They're written in Deutsch, and there's no harmony.”

2012, Rosalind Lauer, A Simple Spring: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel, page 163:


Deutsch

en-adj

Deutsch (comparative more Deutsch, superlative most Deutsch)

more Deutsch (comparative)
most Deutsch (superlative)


Dev

A diminutive of the male given name Devdas.


Devi

Borrowed from Sanskrit देवी (devī́, “goddess, female deity”).

bor+

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Dexter

I was in Atlanta with our three children — our second son, Dexter, named for our beloved church in Montgomery, had been born in January, and was still an infant.

1969, Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, pages 204–205:

A male given name transferred from the surname.


Di

A diminutive of the female given name Diana.


Dia

A language spoken in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.


Diamond

Diamond (disambiguation)#Places
Diamond (surname)

A female given name from English of modern usage, from the name of the gem.


Dick

Rhyming nickname for Rick, pet form of Richard.

Lascivious Edward, and thou perjur'd George,/ And thou mis-shapen Dick, I tell ye all,

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third 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 V, scene v]:

You may know what one man thinks of another by his manner of calling him. Thomas and James and Richard and William are stupid young gentlemen; Tom and Jem and Dick and Will are fine spirited fellows.

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

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


Dickey

Dickie (alternative)
Dicky (alternative)

A diminutive of the male given name Richard.


Dirk

Borrowed from Dutch and North German Dirk.

A male given name from German or Dutch, equivalent to English Derek.


Dock

* As an English surname, possibly from the noun duck.
* As a Norwegian surname, from Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, depression”), from Proto-Germanic *dankwaz (“dark”).
* As a German surname, spelling variant of Docke, related to the noun Tuch (“cloth, piece of fabric”).

(US, rare, dated) A male given name or nickname.


Doll

* As a south German surname, from toll (“mad, foolish”).
* Also as a German surname, spelling variant of Thiel.
* As an English surname, from the adjective dull, cognate with the first German derivation. Also compare Dill.

O! run, Doll, run; run, good Doll.

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second 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 diminutive of the female given name Dorothy.


Dolly

Her name is Dorothy, though everyone has always called her Dolly. I do not know why, for there is nothing doll-like about her. She is a large, vigorous woman with the broad face and heavy hair of a tinker's wife.

1989, John Banville, The Book of Evidence, page 41:

A diminutive of the female given names Dorothy, Dolores, or Doris.


Dom

A unisex given name, a form of Dominic or Dominique.


Don

en:Don (disambiguation)
en:Don River (disambiguation)

A diminutive of the male given names Donald or Gordon.


Donna

A 19th-century invention from the Italian noun donna; also interpreted as a feminine form of Donald.

"Did you ever know a lady named Miss May-rant? With a funny sort of first name, like Donna? Yes, that is it - Miss Donna May-rant."

1914, Mary McNeil Fenollosa, Ariadne of Allan Water, Burt, published 1914, page 30:

I had a girl / Donna was her name. / Since she left me / I've never been the same.

1958, Ritchie Valens (lyrics and music), “Donna”:


Dorcas

From Ancient Greek δορκάς (dorkás, “gazelle”), translation of Tabitha in the Bible.

uder

A female given name from Ancient Greek of biblical origin.


Dow

en-proper noun

Dow (countable and uncountable, plural Dows)

Variant of Daw from David or daw, and of Duff from Scottish Gaelic.


Draco

Borrowed from Latin Dracō, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek Δρᾰ́κων (Drắkōn). Doublet of dracone, dragon, and dragoon.

Draco
Draco (constellation)
Draco (lawgiver)
Draco Dwarf

Alternative form: Drako

Last November’s Latin Grammy Awards ceremony seemed to be the culmination of a heartwarming comeback for the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer Robi Draco Rosa.

2014 August 15, Larry Rohter, “Life After ‘Vida’: One Man’s Time to Heal”, in The New York Times:

Midway through a video interview with Tom Felton about his best-selling memoir, “Beyond the Wand,” the actor who played Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movies removes the blue-gray baseball cap he’d been wearing backward and begins to tousle his hair.

2022 November 10, Elisabeth Egan, “Tom Felton Auditioned for ‘Harry Potter’ Without Reading the Books”, in The New York Times:

A male given name from Ancient Greek or Latin.


Drake

* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon."
* As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above.
* As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.

Drake was not at all what I'd anticipated. His macho soap opera name had put me in mind of aristocrats or oversexed mallards.

2004, Torey Hayden, chapter 4, in Twilight Children, HarperCollins UK, published 2013, →ISBN:


Drew

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” and in a lighthearted moment, explained — as she did during the last presidential election cycle — that in her blended family, her stepchildren affectionately call her Momala.

2024 May 1, Charles M. Blow, “Kamala Harris Isn’t Americans’ ‘Momala.’ She’s Our Vice President.”, in The New York Times:

A diminutive of the male given name Andrew.


Drew

From Anglo-Norman Drew, Drieu, Drue, from Old French Drogon, Dreus, Drues (made popular by Charlemagne's son Drogo) from Old Dutch Drogo, of uncertain ultimate origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *dragan (“to carry, pull”), or from Proto-Germanic *draugaz (“phantom, apparition”).

der

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Drew

Sunflower County
Sunflower County#English

A city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, named after Miss Drew Daniel.

An unincorporated community in Laclede County, Missouri, named after S. E. Drew.

Wellington County
Wellington County#English

A rural community in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada, named after George Alexander Drew (Liberal-Conservative MP).


Duke

en-proper noun

Duke (countable and uncountable, plural Dukes)

(countable) A male given name from English; mostly US and rather rare.

A township in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States.


E

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 誒 /诶 (ê̄), from E ɛ⁵⁵.

A Tai-Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi, China; Kjang E.

誒話 /诶话

a Tai-Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County


Earl

"Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shopgirls -"
"Displacing Ella and Stella," interrupted Dick.
"And Pearl and Jewel,", Gloria added cordially, " and Earl and Elmer and Minnie."

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3):

- - - in a world of mandatory diminutives, a corporation of jolly Bills and Jacks and Herbs and Teds in which an unabbreviable given name like Earl must have been a minor handicap, "Oat" was the best that could be done for a man with the given name of Otis.

1961, Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road, Vintage Contemporaries, published 2000, →ISBN, page 74:

(chiefly US) A male given name from English from the English noun earl.

Las Animas County
Las Animas County#English

A number of places in the United States:

An unincorporated community in Las Animas County, Colorado.

An unincorporated community in Callaway County, Missouri.

Cleveland County
Cleveland County#English

A town in Cleveland County, North Carolina.

An unincorporated community in Springbrook, Washburn County, Wisconsin.


Earnest

A male given name from the Germanic languages, of occasional usage, variant of Ernest.


Ebony

From ebony. First used by African Americans in the 1970s.


Ed

His first name was probably Steve or Ed. No, there were no more Steves or Eds in New York. They were now Steven or Edward, whether they were gay or straight. If they had money, they didn't have a nickname. Everybody was into high seriousness, so that now even dogs were named Humphrey and Raphael.

1989, Ann Beattie, Picturing Will, Random House, →ISBN, page 67:

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) led Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to send a letter to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, following up on previous requests that the administration use its authority to deschedule cannabis and pardon non-violent cannabis-related offenders.

2022 June 7, “Senators Warren, Sanders, Markey, and Gillibrand Urge Administration to Deschedule Cannabis and Pardon Nonviolent Cannabis Offenders”, in warren.senate.gov:

A diminutive of Edward, Edgar, Edwin, or other male given names beginning with Ed-.


Edo

A state of Nigeria in the South South geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Benin City.


Elan

A male given name from Hebrew, variant of Elon.


Elle

A diminutive of the female given name Eleanor and other names beginning with El. Also given as a name in its own right.


Ellen

→ Hawaiian: ʻElena

Medieval English variant of Helen, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē); also used as a variant of Eleanor or a feminine counterpart to Elliot.

And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow? and your fairest daughter and mine, my god-daughter Ellen?

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second 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 III, scene iv]:

"Is her name Ellen or Helen, Miss Viner? I thought - "
Miss Viner closed her eyes.
"I can sound my h's, dear, as well as anyone, but Helen is not a suitable name for a servant. I don't know what the mothers in the lower classes are coming to nowadays."

1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train:


Elma

A 19th-century creation, usually explained as a form of Wilhelmina or Italian Guglielma. It has also been recorded as a blend of Elizabeth and Mary.

A female given name originating as a coinage.


Elvish

These difficult runes are written in Elvish.


Em

And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!

1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 24, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:

Mind you, he never calls me anything back. Isn't that the way of it? What do men call their wives. 'Em...' Like every woman in the planet was christened Emily. 'Em...is that shirt clean?'

2008, Anne Enright, Yesterday's Weather, Vintage, published 2009, →ISBN, page 4:

A diminutive of the female given names Emily, Emma, or Emmeline.


Emerald

Emerald, Queensland
Peter Fitzallan MacDonald
Queensland Government
The Courier-Mail

The Queensland town takes its name from the emerald and other precious stone deposits in the area and from the pastoral run Emerald Downs, a name chosen circa 1860 by pastoralist Peter Fitzallan MacDonald. It is unclear if emeralds were found in or around Emerald.
The given name is a modern coinage from the name of the gemstone, representing a vernacular form of Esmeralda.

The child, a girl, was albino like April, and had exactly April's deep red eyes. Sol and Libra named her Emerald, a green name and a ground-term rather than a sky-term, as if in open expression of the slow spell worked on them all by Viridis.

1954 Theodore Sturgeon, The Golden Helix, in Leo Marguelis:Three Times Infinity, Fawcett Publications 1958, page 109

Mrs. Emerald Walsh was helping out at the presbytery.

1978, Mary Manning, The last chronicles of Ballyfungus, page 48:

(rare) A female given name from English.


Epiphany

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Edward Burne-Jones

ref

From the collection of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom.

𐔰𐕄𐕒𐕡𐕄𐕆𐔶𐕒𐕡𐕎

annual Christian feast celebrating this event

härkäviikot

season or time of the Christian church year


Eric

From Middle English Eric, from Old English Eoric, from Old Norse Eirríkr, Eiríkr (from ei (“always, eternal”, see aye) + ríkr (“ruler”)), or from Proto-Germanic *Aizarīkijaz (from *aizō (“honor”) + *rīkijaz (“ruler”)). Less likely from einn (“sole, alone”) + ríkr (“ruler”), from Proto-Germanic *rīks (“king”, cognate to Latin rēx and Gaulish *rīx). The name was in use in Anglo-Saxon Britain, reinforced by Scandinavian settlers before the Norman Conquest. Compare Danish Erik, German Erich. Possible doublet of Euric.

af

see <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">aye</i>

der

Erick (alternative)
Erik (alternative)
Eriq (alternative)
Erique (alternative)

"What's your name?" "Eric - I mean Williams." "Then why don't you say what you mean?"

1859, Frederic William Farrar, chapter II, in Eric, or Little by Little: A Tale of Roslyn School:

Mark it. Professor Roberts does not like the name Eric. This happens to be one of his given names, and it is a very honorable one. Eric was the first Viking explorer of the North American continent, and this ERIC we hope will be an explorer in the fields of complex therapy.

1959, Roentgens, Rads and Riddles: A Symposium on Supervoltage Radiation Therapy., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, page 71:

A male given name from the Germanic languages.


Erin

Anglicisation of Irish Éirinn (dative singular and dialectal nominative singular of Éire (“Ireland”)).

bor

dative singular and dialectal nominative singular of <i class="Latn mention" lang="ga">Éire</i> (“Ireland”)

Erin (disambiguation)
Thomas Buchanan Read

Alternative forms: Eryn, Arin, Eireann

A female or male given name, in use since the mid-20th century, used in honor of Ireland.


Ester

A female given name from Hebrew, alternative form of Esther


Estonian

en-noun

Estonian (countable and uncountable, plural Estonians)

Estonians (plural)
Est. (alternative)
Esthonian (alternative)

(uncountable) The Uralic language that is the official language of Estonia.


Eth

A short form of the female given name Ethel.


Euripides

From the Ancient Greek Εὐρῑπῐ́δης (Eurīpĭ́dēs).

Ευριπίδης Ευριπίδης#Greek

A male given name from Ancient Greek, mostly representing a transliteration of the modern Greek Ευριπίδης (Evripídis).


Eve

From Middle English Eve, Eue, from Old English Eue, Æue, from Latin Eva, from Ancient Greek Εὔα (Eúa), from Biblical Hebrew חַוָּה (ḥawwā).

"You were always a cynic," said Edith tolerantly. "I'm sure that Eve will want to have a baby - isn't that why we called her Eve?"
"Of course not," said Herbert, as if the baby-cult had long been irritating him. "We called her Eve, or Evelyn, after your grandmother, who was going to leave, and did leave us some money."

1970, L.P.Hartley, My Sister's Keeper, page 113:


Even

From Russian Эве́нский (Evénskij), from эвэн (evɛn), of Tungusic origin. Compare Evenki.

A Tungusic language spoken by the Evens in Siberia and the Russian Far East.


Even

An ethnic Even: a member of an indigenous people living in Siberia and the Russian Far East.


Ewe

The Niger-Congo language, belonging to the Gbe family, spoken by these people.


Ewondo

The language spoken by the Beti tribe from Cameroun, Yaounde area.