Names That Mean Honor
Updated Thu Feb 01 2024
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Names that mean honor symbolize the hope that your child grows up to be honored and respected, and that they behave honorably. Names related to honor and respect have meanings such as praise, glory, esteemed, admirable, and integrity.
Baby names meaning honor include current favorites like Nora and Jude. The gender neutral name Honor itself is on the rise for both sexes.
Along with Nora, other girl names meaning honor in the US Top 1000 include Arya, Cleo, Esme, Gloria, and Keilani.
Along with Jude, other boy names that mean honor in the US Top 1000 include Brian, Judah, and Timothy.
Unique names with honor-related meanings and much potential include Athalie, Cadogan, Sadako, and Zuko.
Honor is a strong sentiment to imbue in your child through his or her name. Take a look at our complete lineup if you need an honorable baby name or a name that means honor and respect for your child, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.
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- Esme
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"beloved"Description:
Esmé comes from the past participle of the Old French verb esmer, meaing "to esteem" or "to love." It can also be considered a derivative of the Spanish name Esmeralda, which means "emerald".
- Jude
Origin:
Latin diminutive of Judah, Hebrew, ArabicMeaning:
"praised; to be generous, to be good to others"Description:
Jude is a modern star, maintaining a steady level of popularity -- but not TOO much popularity, in the US at least. Thank Jude Law and the great Lennon-McCartney song "Hey Jude", double-handedly responsible for propelling Jude up the charts.
- Nora
Origin:
Diminutive of Honora or Eleonora, LatinMeaning:
"honor or meaning unknown"Description:
Nora is a lovely, refined name that conjures up images of Belle Epoch ladies in fur-trimmed coats skating in Central Park. Long seen as a quintessentially Irish name though its roots are not in Ireland, Nora is a quietly stylish favorite that's tiptoed to the top of the popularity ladder.
- Mira
Origin:
Latin, Slavic, Arabic, SanskritMeaning:
"admirable; peace; female ruler; ocean"Description:
This name owes its present life to actress Sorvino. Mira and Mirra have an arty aura.
- Cleo
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"glory"Description:
Cleo, one of the few girls' names to boast the cool-yet-lively o ending, is of course short for Cleopatra, the name of one of the most powerful women in history.
- Brian
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"strong, virtuous, and honorable"Description:
The origins of the name Brian are not entirely clear, but it is suspected that it evolved from an Old Celtic word related to nobility. In Ireland the name is associated with Brian Boru, the most famous of all Irish warrior-kings, credited with driving the Vikings out of Ireland around the year 1000.
- Mireille
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"to admire"Description:
A pretty name that may pose pronunciation problems for non-French speakers or those who've never encountered it, but it is worth the effort. Pronounced meer-AY (or closer to MEE-RAY in French), it comes from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire".
- Zuko
Origin:
XhosaMeaning:
"glory"Description:
No, this name is not an homage to Grease! Zuko is a Xhosa (Zulu) boys' name meaning glory. In a world of Zekes, Zaks and Zanes, Zuko could make a refreshing choice for parents looking for something short and snappy.
- Norah
Origin:
English, ArabicMeaning:
"woman of honor, light"Description:
The skyrocketing success of singer Norah Jones brought this spelling of the name onto the pop charts in 2003. As well as being a spelling variant of Nora in English, it's also an alternative transcription of the Arabic name Nura, from Nur/Noor "light".
- Judith
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"He will be praised or woman from Judea"Description:
The biblical Judith, the fourth most popular name in 1940, may be getting ready for a comeback in its full, elegant, if somewhat solemn form. Many of those earlier Judiths were called Judy—some after Judy (born Frances) Garland—preferring it over their more formal proper name. Today, Judith, like Deborah, may have shaken off just enough to appeal to parents looking for a traditional, yet under-the-radar biblical name. And Jude would be a likelier nickname these days than the Judge Judy connection.
- Timothy
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"honoring God"Description:
A second-tier classic, the New Testament Timothy moves in and out of fashion more than John and James. But though it peaked in the 1960s, many modern parents still appreciate its familiarity and lively rhythm. And the short form Tim feels eternally boyish.
- Aryan
Origin:
Indo-IranianMeaning:
"warrior, honorable"Description:
Aryan derives from the Sanskrit word ārya, meaning "honorable" or "high-born." As a term, Aryan was used to describe Indo-Europeans—particularly Iranians—who shared common religious, cultural, and linguistic history. It was later misapplied by the Nazis to refer solely to Germanic and Nordic Caucasians, ultimately corrupting the term.
- Judah
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"praised"Description:
Judah is the strong, resonant Old Testament name of the son of Jacob who was the ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel, and from whom the word Jew is derived. Some of the names' popularity might be attributable to the similarly named Jude Law.
- Sena
Origin:
Korean; Hindi; Turkish; Arabic; EweMeaning:
"this world's beauty or grace; army; to praise; bringing heaven to earth"Description:
Sena is one of those names that is as obscure in the Western World as it is simple and straightforward. Sena exists as a name in a range of languages and cultures and may be pronounced like Senna (with a soft e) or Sienna.
- Laszlo
Origin:
HungarianMeaning:
"glorious ruler"Description:
The Hungarian classic Laszlo, with its zippy 'z' middle and energetic 'o' ending, has become something of a hipster option, beginning to be considered by cutting-edge parents.
- Zimri
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"my music, my praise"Description:
This unusual and spunky biblical name was one of the Kings of Israel as well as one of Judah's grandsons and has a wonderful meaning. We'd like to see Zimri being used more, and we think it has potential — "traveling lite" names, or 2 syllable names ending in -i, such as Zuri, Ezri, and Rafi are red-hot right now.
- Arya
Origin:
Sanskrit; Modern variation of AriaMeaning:
"noble; air/song"Description:
Arya was derived from an Indo-Iranian word meaning "Aryan" or "noble." It is a masculine given name in Iran, Indonesia, Bali, and Sanskrit-speaking regions of India. In Hindu- and English-speaking parts of the world, Arya is more often a feminine name, the latter influenced by the similar Italian name Aria, meaning "air" or "song."
- Romuald
Origin:
GermanicMeaning:
"glorious reign"Description:
Romuald is an obscure medieval Italian saint’s name which had a surprising run of popularity in France in the 1970s, featuring in the top 100 from 1972-79. It only fell out of the French top 500 in 2005, but is little-known in anglophone countries.
- Merida
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"one who has achieved a high place of honor"Description:
You'll probably be hearing more of this name thanks to the newest Pixar film, featuring Princess Merida, the first Pixar princess--a feisty, athletic, independent medieval Scottish girl with wild red hair. Her name, however, is not Scottish, but a Spanish place name found in both Spain and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
- Gloria
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"glory"Description:
Gloria is beginning to move beyond its de-glamorized Grandma image, most recently thanks to glamorous young Hollywood parents Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, who chose it for their second daughter. Gyllenhaal was quoted as saying they had been inspired by Patti Smith's rendition of the Van Morrison song "Gloria" at a concert and thought " 'We'll name our daughter that one day'."