Names That Mean Gift

This Theodore sound-alike derives from the name Diodorus, associated with the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus.

Diodor

Liodor is the Leo and Theodore mash-up you didn't know you needed — with authentic Russian roots! It ultimately derives from the Greek name Heliodoros.

Liodor

Jázmin

The Icelandic form of Theodore, currently ranking in the Top 50 over there.

Theódór

The oldest form of Matthew, from the Hebrew roots mattan, meaning "gift", and yah, "God". Also written as Mattitihiah, this form appears on several figures in the Old Testament, along with a priest who played an instrumental role in the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd-century (BC) and thus, the name is mentioned in a prayer said during Hannukah.

Mattityahu

The Judeo-Italian form of an ancient relative of Matthew, Mattitia may also be spelled as Mattatia. It is notably associated with a 2nd-century (BC) priest who helped to lead the Maccabean revolt to reclaim Jerusalem. As such, the name is mentioned in one of the Hannukah prayers.  

Mattitia

Natty short form of Nathan, Nathaniel or even Ignatius.

Natty

The Czech version of Matthias was derived via the Hungarian variation, Mátyás.

Matyáš

This Greek name may have several meanings. Referenced in the bible, Hermas was the name of one of the 70 Disciples. The Shepherd of Hermas was an early Christian literary work from the 2nd century.

Hermas

This evocative and attractive Finnish name means gift.

Lahja

Máté

Csaba

Too much teasing potential for an English speaker.

Dorka

Addai is derived from Thaddai, the original Aramaic form of Thaddeus. We prefer this derivative to Thad, which is twice as common.

Addai

Diminutive of Matthijs, the Dutch form of Matthew.

Ties

The Slovene cognate of Teo, It peaked in 2007 at Number 61 on the Slovenian charts.

Tevž

Neo, indeed--though it was a male character in "The Matrix."

 In the Southern African language of Tswana, it is a unisex name meaning "gift".

Flowing, melodic boy name with a sun-drenched meaning.

Eliodoro

A gallicized spelling of Mazhe, itself a Breton version of Matthew, which is currently popular for baby boys in France. In the English-speaking world, where the é accent is not always recognized, there is great potential for confusion with the name Mae.

Maé

If you're looking for a Euro-chic alternative to Max, Mats is a strong possibility. It's a fading classic in Norway, but is popular in the Netherlands and Belgium, where short names are the height of style.