Names that mean surprise include Nenad, Vismaya, Ashcharya, Upaluk, Sikudhani, Chance, Mirabel and Wonder. Nenad means unexpected in Serbian, and Vismaya means surprise or wonder in Sanskrit. Many other options mean miracle, gift or wonder, which suit a surprise baby well. This list covers boys, girls and unisex names. Quick Answer The best names that…
Names that mean ocean include Moana, Kai, Oceanus, Gyatso, Itsaso, Arnav, Avisa, Darya, Deniz and Derya. They come from Maori, Hawaiian, Greek, Tibetan, Basque, Hindi, Sanskrit and Turkish. Others, like Dylan, Marina and Cordelia, mean sea or child of the sea. This list covers boys, girls and unisex options. Quick Answer The best names that…
Names that mean spirit include Ruh, Linh, Atma, Psyche, Anima, Moya, Diwa, Awen, Neshama and Kami. They come from Arabic, Vietnamese, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Zulu, Tagalog, Welsh and Hebrew. Many also mean soul, breath or life force. This list covers boys, girls and unisex names, plus names meaning strong spirit. Quick Answer The best names…
Names that mean blood include Eztli, Chibeni, Atakan, Sanguis and Akeldama. They come from Nahuatl, Japanese, Turkish, Latin and Aramaic. Direct blood names are rare, so many parents also pick names meaning blood red, life or family. Examples of those are Scarlett, Crimson, Flann, Carmine, Zoe and Hayat. Quick Answer The best names that mean…
Names that mean red include Scarlett, Ruby, Rory, Rufus, Flynn, Crimson, Adam, Akane and Aruna. Some mean red directly, like Rufus and Scarlett. Others point to red hair, red gems, red flowers or red earth. This list covers girls, boys and unisex names from many cultures. Quick Answer The most popular names meaning red are:…
Names that mean silent or quiet include Tacita, Tacitus, Shizuka, Nirav, Sakina, Placido, Galina, Tihomir and Serena. They come from Latin, Japanese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek and Slavic roots. Each carries a meaning like silence, calm, peace or stillness. This list covers boys, girls and unisex options. Quick Answer The most popular names meaning quiet are:…
Names that mean chaos include Khaos (Greek), Eris (Greek discord), Set (Egyptian god of chaos), Tiamat (Babylonian chaos dragon), Konton (Japanese), Hundun (Chinese), Havoc, Mayhem, Riot and Tempest. Many come from creation myths, where chaos is the starting point of the world. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Greek Names Greek myth begins…
Names that mean death bringer or death itself include Thanatos (Greek), Azrael (angel of death), Mors (Latin), Mrityu (Sanskrit), Yama (Hindu god of death), Mavet (Hebrew), Shinigami (Japanese), Keres (Greek death spirits), Hel (Norse) and Mot (Canaanite). Most are gods, spirits and angels tied to the end of life. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names…
Names that mean destiny include Destiny (English), Kismet (Turkish and Arabic), Moira (Greek), Wyrd (Old English), Qadar (Arabic), Niyati (Sanskrit), Goral (Hebrew), Tyche (Greek), Fortuna (Latin) and Ananke (Greek). They suit babies, characters and brands that want a sense of purpose. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Arabic and Urdu Names Destiny is…
Names that mean angel include Angel (Greek), Angela, Angelina, Angelo, Malak (Arabic and Hebrew), Malaika (Swahili), Farishta (Persian and Urdu), Melek (Turkish), Anahera (Maori), Anela (Hawaiian) and Tenshi (Japanese). Many parents also choose archangel names like Gabriel, Michael and Raphael. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Arabic and Urdu Names Angels are a…
Names that mean phoenix include Phoenix (Greek), Fenix (Spanish and Portuguese), Fenice (Italian), Feniks (Russian and Polish), Anka (Turkish), Bennu (Egyptian), Hoo (Japanese) and Fenghuang (Chinese). Names that carry the same idea of rebirth include Anastasia, Renata, Renee, Ember and Ash. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Spelling Variants Phoenix has many spellings….
Names that mean mystery or secret include Gizem (Turkish), Raz (Hebrew and Persian), Rune (Norse), Asrar (Arabic), Rahasya (Sanskrit), Arcana (Latin), Enigma (Greek), Xuan (Chinese) and Yugen (Japanese). Many fit babies, characters, pets and brands because they sound calm, deep and memorable. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Arabic and Urdu Names Arabic…
Names that mean bad luck include Mallory (French, unfortunate), Ichabod (Hebrew, no glory), Mara (Hebrew, bitter), Eris (Greek, discord), Ate (Greek, ruin), Dolores (Spanish, sorrows), Taabu (Swahili, difficulty) and Kyo (Japanese, bad luck with the right kanji). Most are old words, not curses. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Hebrew and Biblical Names…
Native American names are given in many languages, including Lakota, Cherokee, Navajo, Hopi and Ojibwe. Popular examples are Aiyana, Aponi, Kaya, Winona, Chayton, Mato, Takoda and Honovi. Most draw on nature, animals, family and spirit, and each nation has its own naming customs. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Lakota and Dakota Names…
Names that mean destroyer include Abaddon (Hebrew, destruction), Apollyon (Greek, destroyer), Vinashak (Sanskrit, destroyer), Samhara (Sanskrit, destruction), Gideon (Hebrew, hewer or great destroyer), Kali (Sanskrit, force of time) and Shiva (the destroyer in Hindu tradition). They suit fantasy characters, gamers and anyone drawn to strong, dramatic names. Quick List Boy Names Girl Names Unisex Names…
Names that mean light include Noor (Arabic), Lucy (Latin), Hikari (Japanese), Liora (Hebrew), Kiran (Sanskrit), Lux (Latin), Zia (Arabic), Svetlana (Slavic) and Ming (Chinese). They are loved because they stand for hope, clarity and warmth in nearly every culture. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Arabic and Urdu Names Light carries deep meaning…
Names that mean nothing or void include Shunya (Sanskrit, zero or void), Nihil (Latin, nothing), Mu (Japanese, nothingness), Kenoma (Greek, emptiness), Sunyata (Sanskrit, emptiness), Nada (Spanish, nothing) and Khaos (Greek, void). They work for babies, fictional characters, pets, gamers and brands. Quick List Girl Names Boy Names Unisex Names Sanskrit Names Sanskrit treats emptiness as…
Names that mean storm include Storm (English), Tempest (Latin), Arashi (Japanese), Bora (Turkish), Ekaitz (Basque), Audrius (Lithuanian), Saar (Hebrew), Tufan (Persian and Urdu), and Thyella (Greek). Many storm names come from thunder and weather gods, such as Thor, Hadad, and Oya. What Does Storm Mean in Names? Storm in names covers wind, rain, thunder, and…
Names that mean gay in its original sense of joyful and carefree include Gay, Gaye, Gaylord, Allegra, Hilary, Letitia, Blythe, Merry, Khurram (Persian), Farah (Arabic), and Ananda (Sanskrit). The word “gay” comes from the Old French “gai,” meaning joyful. In the 20th century it also took on its main modern meaning of homosexual. What Does…
Names that mean calm include Serena (Latin), Placido (Italian), Prashant (Sanskrit), Galene (Greek), Aram (Kurdish), Shalev (Hebrew), Zola (Xhosa), Mirna (Serbo-Croatian), and Sakina (Arabic). Many peace names also feel calm, such as Irene, Frederick, and Noah. What Does Calm Mean in Names? Calm in names covers quiet, still, peaceful, and serene. Some names state it…
Girl names that mean healing include Shifa (healing in Arabic), Iaso (the Greek goddess of recovery), Akeso (the Greek goddess of the healing process), Hygieia (the goddess of health), Panacea (cure for all), Sanjivani (life-restoring herb in Sanskrit), Eir (the Norse goddess of healing) and Raphaela (God has healed). Many more names point to health,…
Names that mean lonely or alone include Tanha (alone in Urdu and Persian), Ekaki (alone in Sanskrit), Ekant (solitude in Hindi), Soledad (solitude in Spanish), Wahid (one and alone in Arabic), Solus (alone in Latin), Kodoku (loneliness in Japanese) and Aonar (alone in Irish). Mona also traces to the Greek word for alone, though it…
Names that mean danger include Khatar (danger in Urdu and Arabic), Khatra (danger in Hindi), Periculum (danger in Latin), Kindynos (danger in Greek), Kiken (danger in Japanese), Bhima (terrible and formidable in Sanskrit), Bhairav (terrifying) and Peril. Almost none of these are common given names. They suit characters, nicknames, stage names and gaming handles, though…
Names that mean broken include Khandita (broken or fragmented in Sanskrit), Fractus (broken in Latin), Maksur (broken in Arabic), Shikasteh (broken in Persian), Roto (broken in Spanish), Brise (broken in French) and Kowareta (broken in Japanese). Almost none of these are common given names. They work best as character names, pen names and creative projects….
Names that mean pride include Fakhr (pride in Arabic), Gaurav (pride and honor in Sanskrit), Garima (dignity and pride), Naz (pride and delicate grace in Urdu), Onur (honor and pride in Turkish), Superbus (proud in Latin) and Iftikhar (pride and honor in Arabic). Many names also suggest pride through honor, glory and lions, since a…
Names that mean painful or pain include Dolores (sorrows in Spanish), Mara (bitter in Hebrew), Benoni (son of my sorrow), Odyne (the Greek goddess of pain), Algos (pain in Greek), Dard (pain in Urdu and Hindi), Alam (pain in Arabic) and Itami (pain in Japanese). Most are words, myths or religious names, and only a…
Names that mean brown include Bruno (brown in Germanic), Bruna (brown in Italian and Portuguese), Brunette (little brown one in French), Burnett (brown, from Old French), Hazel (the hazelnut tree and brown eyes), Sienna (reddish brown earth), Donovan (dark brown in Irish) and Samra (brown or dusky in Arabic). Many brown names come from hair,…
Names that mean puppet include Marionette (a string puppet, from “little Mary”), Kukla (puppet or doll in Russian), Karagoz (the Turkish shadow puppet, meaning black eye), Kathputli (wooden puppet in Hindi), Petrushka (the Russian glove puppet), Punch (from Punchinello, the famous puppet) and Kasper (the German hand puppet). Real given names that mean puppet are…
Names that mean memory include Mnemosyne (the Greek goddess of memory), Mneme (the muse of memory), Smriti (memory in Sanskrit), Muninn (Odin’s raven, whose name means memory), Zikra (remembrance in Arabic), Zachary (the Lord remembers) and Memory (used as a given name in parts of Africa). Most of these come from Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Norse…
Names that mean nightmare include Mara (the spirit that torments sleepers in old folklore), Mare (the Old English word that gave us nightmare), Phobetor (the Greek god of nightmares), Ephialtes (nightmare in Greek), Mora (a Slavic night spirit), Incubus (a demon that lies upon sleepers) and Akumu (nightmare in Japanese). Real given names that mean…