We’re always spotlighting baby names that have appealing meanings: nature and intelligence, peace and love.
But the fact is that many ancient names have meanings that relate to fighting and war and victory, undoubtedly desirable qualities to parents who feared that their babies might be kidnapped by Huns or eaten by wolves.
In the modern world, parents tend to choose one of these battle-related name despite rather than because of a meaning like “renowned warrior” or “elf spear”. And those who want a fierce-sounding name may opt for something more explicit like Wilder or Gunner, Hunter or Blade.
But a user-created list we recently spotlighted by @nidorina reminded us just how many fighting, war, soldier, protector, and guardian names there are from deep in the traditional naming lexicon. And there are many more than listed there. An overview:
POPULAR NAMES
Fighting names are not all masculine, though many of the girls’ names with war-related meanings stem from male choices. Here is a collection of the most familiar for both sexes, with their meanings.
Alexandra and Alexander — defending men
Barry — spear
Brenda — blade of a sword
Duncan — dark warrior
Edward — wealthy guardian
Gary — spearman
Geraldine and Gerald –– ruler with the spear
Liam and William — resolute protection
Louise and Louis — renowned warrior
Mark — warlike
Martin — warlike
Oscar — God spear or champion warrior
Owen — young warrior
Peyton — fighting man’s estate
Ramona and Raymond — wise protector
Roger — famous warrior
Rosamond — horse protection
Willa — resolute protection
Wyatt — brave in war
Zelda — grey fighting maid
UNUSUAL NAMES
Here are some of the more unusual names with warlike meanings.
Aminta — defender
Boris — to fight
Caddock — eagerness for war
Clancy — red-haired warrior
Corin — spear
Destry — war horse
Hera — protectress
Koa — warrior
Ludovica — famous in war
Mordecai — warrior
Ptolemy — aggressive, warlike
Viggo — war
Do you care about these ancient meanings of names? Would you give your baby a war or fighting-related name?
Pamela Redmond
Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.
Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.