User-created list
By gmdx · Updated April 2023
Across 5 pages
of 5
German
"war"
An ancient German saint's name – and most famously the name of Harry Potter's snowy owl – but the combination of "head" plus "wig" feels a little too literal in English.
Hercule is a masculine name directly derived from Greek mythology, serving as the French variant of Hercules, the legendary hero known for his extraordinary strength and twelve labors. Made…
English
"from the island in the river"
Possible middle name for devotees of detective Sherlock...or the actress Katie.
Greek
"purple flower"
Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the…
Variation of Isabella and color name
With the popularity of Isabella, you might think of Isabelline as a further elaboration -- though it would be the definition of gilding the lily. But Isabelline is also a color, an amorphous pale…
French female form of Leontios, Greek
"lion"
Leontine is the French form of a name that's more familiar by its spelling variation Leontyne, the name made famous by opera diva Price. An obscure choice, Leontine nevertheless feels right for our…
Irish, English
"intoxicating"
An Anglicized form of Medb borrowed by both Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley for the of queen of the fairies. Perfect if you want something both adventurous and simple - though you could use it…
Welsh
"fortunate, benefactor's son"
Also spelled Madog, which was the name of an early Welshman, Madog ap Owain Gwynedd, reputed to have been the first European to discover North America in 1155. Maddox, the name of Angelina Jolie and…
French variation of Millicent, German
"strong in work"
The romantic fairy tale-like name has come to modern attention via the beautiful but terrifying sorceress in Game of Thrones . The character may look as lovely as her name sounds, but it's hard to…
Irish
"sea white, sea fair"
The popular Irish name Muireann comes from a mythical mermaid who was tranformed into a woman by a saint. Pronunciation is like the surname of the actress Helen Mirren, but with the spin of a w sound…
"born of the sea"
Muirgen in Irish mythology was turned into a mermaid and then brought back to land after 300 years and transformed back into a woman -- which must have been quite a shock. Muirgen's original name was…
"victory"
The goddess and personification of victory in Greek mythology – sister to strength, force, and zeal – could make a powerful namesake for a daughter. The goddess would fly a chariot across…
Greek mythology name
"the darkness of the night"
Name of the legendary ancient Greek poet and musician — whose music was so beautiful it made trees dance and rivers stop to listen — would provide a child with a challenging but indelible identity.
"youth, young woman"
An overlooked name from Greek mythology, Pallas is both an epithet for the goddess of wisdom and a name in its own right, borne by a daughter of the sea god Triton who was raised alongside the…
"lover of songs"
Philomela, the name of a mythological Athenian princess who was transformed into a nightingale, is rarely heard outside the Greek community. The mellifluous Philomela might make a more distinctive…
"sweet; goodly"
Sadbh is the modern Irish form of the more streamlined but equally confusing Sadb or Sadhbh: these names are pronounced to rhyme with five. In Irish mythology Sadb or Sadbh or Sadhbh, a goddess lover…
Persian
"noble lineage"
Scheherazade -- or Sheherazade --is a legendary Persian queen immortalized as the narrator of all one thousand stories in the One Thousand and One Nights . Her story is even more remarkable than the…
"the sea"
A pretty, rarely used Greek name, Thalassa is the ancient personification of the sea, particularly the Mediterranean, who is sometimes considered the mother of Aphrodite. In 1991, a newly discovered…
Italian place-name
This name of an architecturally glorious Italian city makes a romantic and evocative possibility.
