Names That Mean Strength

A dashing French surname name most famously borne by Henry David Thoreau, an American naturalist, writer and philosopher who influenced such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. The most common modern American pronunciation is "thor-OH", with emphasis on the final syllable, although Thoreau himself pronounced it "THOR-oh".

Courage debuted on the girls' side of the chart in 2008, almost two decades after it first appeared for boys. It's among the rising class of powerful unisex virtue names, along with Brave, True, and Hero.

This name was used by the royal House of Luxembourg in the Middle Ages, as a diminutive of Irmentrude. We definitely think this spunky shortening improves upon the heavy German original.

Peaked in the Czech Republic in 1939.

Gabrina is a name sometimes heard in the Latino community, could make a distinctive alternative to Gabriela.

This variation of Philomena has never been high on the popularity charts, but it did appear in the US infrequently as a French immigrant name. As a result, it has some ties to Louisiana and the Cajun community.

Jerca ultimately was derived from Gertruda, the Polish and Czech form of Gertrude. Jerca is currently in the Slovene Top 100.

Many African names can be used for both sexes, as is the case with Chibuike. There are no stats on usage in Nigeria, Chibuike's country of origin, but in the US it is used more often for boys.