Top Names That Mean Lord

Gianna originated as a diminutive for Giovanna—a Latin feminization of John. The root name among these is the Hebrew name Yochanen, meaning "the Lord is gracious." Common nickname include Gia and Gigi, and the English form of Gianna is Joanna.

Natalie is the French variation of Natalia, a name originally derived from the Latin phrase natale domini, meaning “birthday of the Lord.” It was historically given to girls born around Christmas for this reason. Nathalie is an additional, though less common, spelling of the name.

Isaiah derives from the Hebrew Yesha’yahu, containing the elements yasha’, meaning “to save,” and yah, in reference to the Hebrew god. The biblical Isaiah, son of Amos, was the most important of the major prophets, with an Old Testament book named for him. He prophesized that the Children of Israel would be exiled from their homeland, but that God would bring the back.

Joshua was derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshu’a, from the roots yeho, referring to God, and yasha’, meaning “to save.” Joshua shares origins with the name Jesus, which comes from the Aramaic variation Yeshu’a. An important figure in the Old Testament, Joshua was the successor to Moses who finally led the Israelites into the Promised Land, inspiring the hymn "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho."

Ian is Scottish form of John, derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan. It is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic Iain, which is also a viable spelling. Ian was introduced to Americans by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.

Dominic comes from the Latin name Dominicus and is common in the Roman-Catholic community. In the past it has been given to boys born on Sunday—the word “Sunday” in languages including Spanish and French shares Dominic’s roots. In use in the English-speaking world since medieval times, its most famous bearer was St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican order of monks in the thirteenth century.

Jace may sound like only half a name -- it's usually pronounced like the first half of Jason though some may consider it a spelling-out of the initials J. C. -- but it's a popular choice for baby boys. Jace has been heard on such TV shows as Teen Mom 2 and Duck Dynasty.

Evan was derived from Iefan, a Welsh version of John. John is ultimately a derivative of the Hebrew name Yochanan, comprised of the elements yo, meaning “God” and chanan, “to be gracious.” Evan is actually a Hebrew word itself, meaning “rock.”

Micah is a biblical name that growing numbers of parents are looking at as a more unusual alternative to Michael, projecting a shinier, more lively image.

Zachary is the English variation of Zacharias, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Zechariah. The name Zachary is attached to eight different people in the Bible, the most prominent being the father of John the Baptist, and it's also presidential, via 12th president Zachary Taylor. Zackery is an alternate spelling, and nicknames include Zack, Zach, Zac, and Zak.

Juan, the Spanish version of John, is ubiquitous in the Spanish-speaking world, and is familiar to all ethnicities via such references as Don Juan and San Juan.

Jesus -- pronounced hay-SOOS -- is used exclusively and extensively among Spanish speakers, though JEE-zus as in the first name of Christ is never used in the Anglophone world. Jesus Quintana was a character in The Big Lebowski and Jesus Velasquez appeared on True Blood.

The name of a figure from Greek mythology, Adonis is a high-pressure name often synonymous with masculine beauty. Nonetheless, many mythological names that would have previously been deemed off limits have made their way up the popularity charts—for instance, Penelope currently ranks highly for girls. And indeed, Adonis was one of the fastest-rising boys' names of 2016, moving up 307 spots on the U.S. popularity chart in just one year.

Kyrie may be a name of God used widely in the ancient church refrain Kyrie Elieson, or Lord, have mercy, but it's rising in popularity for boys in the US on the strength of basketball star Kyrie Irving. Irving pronounces the first syllable of Kyrie to rhyme with my, whereas with the religious word it rhymes with fear.

Griffin is one of the newer and most appealing of the two-syllable Celtic surnames. In English, griffin is the name of a mythological creature, half eagle, half lion. It re-entered the list in 1983 after an absence of 75+ years.

Paige is more name, and less word than the occupational Page. Paige is also sleek and sophisticated a la Brooke and Blair and reached as high as Number 47 in 2003, when there was a very popular television show, Trading Spaces, hosted by the energetic Paige Davis.

Thanks to Mariah Carey, everyone now knows this name – and is aware that Mariah's pronounced with a long i – just as Maria was in the Jane Austen era. And though Mariah now sounds modern, it was heard as far back as 1550 in Great Britain.

This is the second-to-the-original spelling of a name that's part Jersey Shore, part upper-crust British. Dominick gets you more directly to nickname Nick.

Nickname name Jase joined twin brother Jace in the Top 100 in 2013, after first entering the list in 2002 -- but has since dropped in the charts. Inspiration may be Jase (born Jason) Robinson of the reality show Duck Dynasty.

This distinguished name still feels a bit ancient, but with the rise of such former graybeards as Jeremiah and Elijah, it also sounds child-friendly again, as does the Latin-Greek form Zacharias.

Alora feels like a hybrid name – part authentic, part synthetic – maybe because it is. It squeaked onto the Top 1000 in 2017 as part of the trend for girls' names starting and ending with A, but it has since dropped out again. It is likely a spelling variant of Elora, but also sounds a lot like the Italian word allora, meaning "so, then, therefore, well".

This spelling of the name has ties to Hebrew, Slavic, and Scandinavian cultures, in addition to being another alternative to Reina and Reyna. It is most recently attached to hit television show Nashville's Rayna Jaymes, played by Connie Britton.

Jedidiah, an Old Testament name with a touch of Gunsmoke-era western panache, is right in line to be revived along with the other biblical -iah names.

Zechariah is actually the original Biblical form of the name more often found these days as Zachariah, probably because of the popularity of Zachary. People are going to have trouble getting Zechariah because they won't understand the Zech part. This name, in whatever form, begs to be shortened in the modern world to Zach (or Zac or Zack).

Natasha, an appealing, still exotic name, entered the American mainstream post-Cold War, but seems to have peaked in the eighties, replaced by the more straightforward Natalie. As is common for Natashas the world over, the Obamas shorten their Natasha's name to Sasha.