Names That Mean Bright

Ke'alohilani

Gwenno originated as a diminutive of Gwenllian, Gwynhwyfar or Gwendolen, but it is increasingly being bestowed as a full name, with between 10 and 20 births a year in England &amp; Wales.
Musician Gwenno (full name Gwenno Mererid Saunders) is a famous bearer. 
 
Gwenno is also the medieval Welsh name for the planet Venus — literally "the little white/bright one".

Gwenno

Isambard is derived from Old German Isanbert, meaning "bright iron" or "famous iron". Its most famous bearer, rather fittingly, is the 19th century British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, noted as one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution.

Isambard

Traditionally a feminine name from Greek mythology, Peaches Geldolf used it for her son in 2013.

Phaedra

Tico is a diminutive of Alberto, but on the soap opera One Life to Live, Tico Santi's full name was Augustico.

Tico

A very rare Cas name with that cool and cozy -wyn ending.

Caswyn

A soft yet strong name coined by George Lucas for a princess character in the 1988 movie Willow, likely based on Irish names like Sorcha (SOR-ka, "radiant") or Saoirse (SEER-sha, "freedom").

Sorsha

Rovshana is the Azerbaijani form of Roshanak, the Persian name that spawned Roxanne and Roxana.

Rovshana

French version of the mythological name Phaedra.

Phèdre

Kouki is an uncommon choice in Japan today, but it's been used for several anime characters.

Kouki

Associated with comedian Stephen Colbert, who uses the French pronunciation of his name as a bit (the rest of his family of origin use the English pronunciation).

Colbert

In an earlier time Shirley was used primarily for boys, but the tide turned with the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley in 1849, the story of a character whose parents had selected the name for a boy child, then decided to use it anyway when he turned out to be a she.

 Shirley peaked for boys at #259 in 1935, the same year it reached its peak of #2 for girls in the US. A famous fictional male namesake is Shirley Blythe, son of Anne and Gilbert Blythe in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books. Shirley was Anne's maiden name.

Shirley

Nickname for Alena, a Helen variation that can be heard in Eastern Europe.

Alenka

If you love girls' names that start and end in A, this beautiful Mongolian option is one to consider!

Ariuna

Ksawier

Claribelle

Fulbert comes from the same root as Fulbright, as in the prestigious fellowship. A unique name not prized by 21st century parents.

Fulbert

A variant of Alyona, which itself originated as a nickname for Yelena, a variation of Helen.

Alyiona

Probably related to Gilbert, from the same Germanic root: gisil, meaning "pledge" or "hostage". The Gis- syllable may also derive from Celtic gaiso "spear".