Baby Name Meanings
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 9 pages
of 9
Ukrainian variation of Matthew, Hebrew
"gift of God"
Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene and Serbian form of Theodora
Teodora is an extremely attractive and international choice, with several equally attractive, user-friendly nicknames. Appealing short forms might include Tea, Dora, or Dory for English speakers,…
Diminutive of Zebediah or Zebulon, Hebrew
"gift of God, exaltation, or little dwelling"
Short and to-the-point, it turns an ancient biblical name into a friendly cowboy.
Diminutive of Thaddeus, Aramaic
An approachable mini name that could go on the birth certificate, but may work best as a nickname. Full name options include Thaddeus, Theodore, and Thomas, which was the given name of Abe's son Tad…
Spelling variation of Sean
"God is gracious"
Shawn is one name that's become less unisex and more distinctly male over time in all its spellings, given to only 14 baby girls and over 500 boys in the US in the most recent year counted. But at…
Anglicization of Sine; Irish variation of Jane
Animated Gaelic name popularized by singer Sheena Easton, also brings to mind Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, the Amazonian comic book and TV series heroine. Sine is considered to be and English…
English, diminutive of Dorothy
Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.
Short form of Thaddeus or variation of Tad
Thad is a tad too slight to stand alone as a name, though as a short form of the imposing Thaddeus it's as serviceable as Ted or Ed.
Variation of Jane
Last moment of glory was in the Janis Joplin sixties.
Short form of Dorotea or Mattea
As Theo and Thea get more popular, so do Teo and Tea, short forms of the Latinate variations of Theodore and Matthew -- which include Dorotea and Mattea. But like Theo and Thea, Tea can stand…
Ukrainian form of Matthew, from Hebrew
Finnish diminutive of Hanna and Johanna
"grace; God is gracious"
A cute and easily accessible Finnish nickname, although not one that is likely to become popular in America now that Hannah and co are on the decline.
French variation of Jean
Together with the more common (in France) Jeannine spelling, this feminine form of Jean was most popular in the 1930s in its home country, and in the 1960s in the US. It's fallen off the Top 1000…
Hebrew
This female form of Nathan can be pronounced with three syllables or four, and could make an interesting alternative to Natalia.
Russian variation of Theodore
"God's gift"
This variation of Theodore is familiar here mostly via the great Russian novelist Dostoyevsky. It was also the name of three early tsars of Russia.
Slovene, variation of Thaddeus
Another one of the lively, vowel-ending twists on Thaddeus — à la Tadeo and Taddeo — this time from Slovenia.
Galician variation of Jane, English
Juana with an X factor. Xoana is a Jane variant hailing from Galicia, an autonomous community in Spain.
French
A Dorothy nickname name with a measure of nostalgic charm. Kids will associate it with the funny fish character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the Pixar animated instant classic Finding Nemo .
Tigrinya, Eritrea
Derived from the Tigrinya elements hiyab , meaning "gift," and el , "God."
Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Yiddish diminutive of Hanna or Johanna
Hanya, made famous by American novelist Hanya Yanagihara and German dancer and choreographer Hanya Holm, is a simple straightforward name rare in the US, where only a handful of baby girls are named…
