Names That Mean Gift

Whether you think of the chocolates or the naked long-haired lady on the horse, Godiva is a name with baggage no child should have to carry.

Sweet old-fashioned nickname name that could make a comeback in the wake of Sadie, Edie et al. Famous bearers include author Dodie Smith, who wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians and I Capture the Castle.

Toros is a multicultural option, used in Armenia as a variation of classic Theodore, in Spanish to refer to bulls, or sometimes to bullfighting, and in Turkey, as a place name, given to a mountain complex in the south of the country, whose name is borrowed from the Latin "Taurus", again meaning bull.

Gio is a cute, more androgynous variation of Gia that could work well as a nickname for names such as Giovanna, Giordana, or Giorgia. It was chosen by Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo for their daughter in 2018.

Like many spelling variations of popular names, Jonathon's star rose and is now falling along with that of the original Jonathan. Jonathon occupied the very last spot on the boys' US Top 1000 in 2016, at Number 1000. Parents in search of an Old Testament boys’ name today tend to look for more original choices, from Ezra to Abraham to Moses.

The Polish form of Thaddeus, it is associated with Adam Mickiewicz's 1834 poem Pan Tadeusz, the national epic poem of Poland and compulsory reading in schools. The poem is set in the early 19th century when Poland had been divided between Prussia, Russia, and Austria and tells the story of Tadeusz and Zosia, members of two feuding noble families.

Feodora is an interesting choice for the intrepid name-giver, especially with the dynamic nickname Feo.

Derived from the Tigrinya elements hiyab, meaning "gift," and el, "God."

Diminutive of Matthijs, the Dutch form of Matthew.

Despite sounding feminine to English speakers, Shaya is a unisex name more common among baby boys — the male version also has roots in Arabic.

Spanish form of Eleadora, a combination of Elio and Dora, meaning sun and gift respectively.

Diarra has a nice meaning, but we could see it leading to possible teasing re association with a certain digestive problem.

Portuguese variation of Matthew.

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.

Popular in Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Russia, and familiar in the UK too, Bogdan is a rugged and strong sounding choice with a similar meaning to US favorite Theodore. Made up of the Slavic elements bogŭ and danŭ, it means "gift from God".

We like Matti in theory, but in practice it’s likely to get confused for the girlish Maddie.

A stylish member of the Matthew family that's currently popular in Belgium — more so than traditional Mathieu.

The Finnish cognate of Thea, from Dorothea.

Mattis was most popular in Scandinavia in the 2000s and 2010s, and is now seeing success in Germany. In the US, it's most familiar as a surname.

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