Names That Are Variations
Across 139 pages
of 139
Morris
English variation of Maurice
"dark-skinned"
Morris is as quiet and comfortable as a Morris chair, and has the same vintage feel. Once a Top 100 name in the early 1900s, Morris fell completely off the roster in 1995, probably due to lingering…
Brigitte
French variation of Brighid
"strength or exalted one"
Brigitte is the French version of the ancient Irish Brighid long associated with 1950s sex symbol Brigitte Bardot. If you want to pronounce Brigitte the French way, it's brih-ZHEET.
Andrée
French variation of Andrea
Gilding the lily.
Maxime
French variation of Maximus
Common in France, but could be confused with the feminine Maxine here.
Alix
French
"noble type"
A chic and sassy French choice, popular in France but likely to be confused with the more prosaic Alex in English-speaking countries. Although sometimes used in the US as a variant spelling of Alex,…
Gerik
Polish variation of Edgar
With roots in both Polish and Low German, Gerik is a blank slate of a name that has never made the charts. It's a possibility as a fresh twist on Eric or Derek.
Lynda
Spelling variation of Linda
"pretty"
When President LBJ's daughter Linda Bird changed the spelling of her name to Lynda, she set a trend for spelling adventurism that's still rippling through the name world today.
Gerhard
German variation of Gerard
In its native Germany, Gerhard was very popular a hundred years ago and is now rather old-fashioned. It isn't much used by English speakers either, but has a certain clunky charm about it.
Mendel
Yiddish variation of Menachem
Mendel is an Old World Jewish name that is also the surname of the founder of genetics.
Geraldo
Spanish variation of Gerald
Tightly bound to flamboyant newsman Geraldo Rivera--who was born Gerald..
Lillyana
Spelling variation of Lilliana
Yuri
Russian variation of George
Common Russian name familiarized here via cosmonaut Yury Gagarin and a character in Dr. Zhivago , but we don't see it ever gaining permanent resident status.
Georgi
Russian variation of George
Spelling it with a double I -- GEORGII -- makes it ultradistinctive, and less a generic Georgie.
Mikhail
Russian variation of Michael
"who is like God"
One of the most familiar Russian names in the West, thanks to ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov and state head Mikhail Gorbachev.
Miklós
Czech and Hungarian variation of Nicholas
Surprisingly, attached to the Greek Nikolaos rather than Michael.
Lilyana
Variation of Liliana, Italian and Spanish
"lily"
Lilyana is variant of "Lillian" or "Liliana", which are elaborations of the flower name "Lily". It could be considered a smoosh-name of Lily and Ana, which may appeal to fans of compound choices like…
Jeffry
Spelling variation of Jeffrey
Moisés
Spanish variation of Moses
This name is well used in the Hispanic culture.
Moishe
Yiddish variation of Moses, Egyptian
"delivered from the water"
A name commonly heard on New York's Lower East Side at the turn of the last century.
Liliane
French variation of Lilian
"lily, a flower"
Now that Lily has become hugely popular, parents in love with this flower name are looking further afield for substitutes such as Liliane and Liliana.