Where they come from
Every name has a root. Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Old English, and the dozen smaller threads that wove the rest. Pick the soil.
-
English
216 namesModern English coinages and surname-firsts that became given names. The pattern that produced Carter, Harper, and Mason.
Ace · Ainsley · Alicia · Alyssa · +212 more
-
Hebrew
194 namesFrom the Old Testament and the long arc of Jewish tradition. The deepest theophoric well in the corpus.
Aaliyah · Aaron · Abel · Abigail · +190 more
-
Latin
181 namesFrom ancient Rome and the Romance languages that grew from it. The roots most English-speaking parents recognize without knowing they do.
Ace · Adelina · Adrian · Adriana · +177 more
-
Greek
124 namesFrom Greek myth, the New Testament, and twenty-five centuries of philosophy. Names that come with a built-in story.
Adonis · Alani · Alayna · Alejandro · +120 more
-
Spanish
75 namesFrom Iberian saints and the wider Spanish-speaking world. Many cross into broader US use as the country shifts.
Adan · Aitana · Alejandro · Alicia · +71 more
-
Old English
64 namesAnglo-Saxon roots that pre-date the Norman conquest. The earthy English layer underneath the Latinate one.
Addison · Arlo · Ashley · Ashton · +60 more
-
Irish
62 namesFrom Old Irish and the Gaelic tradition. Soft on the tongue, often with meanings rooted in the natural world.
Aidan · Aiden · Alana · Alanna · +58 more
-
Germanic
56 namesFrom the Germanic tribes that shaped early medieval Europe. Strong consonants, often warrior-rooted meanings.
Ada · Adaline · Adalyn · Adalynn · +52 more
-
French
53 namesFrom modern French, often arriving through royal or literary channels. Elegant and a little chic.
Alaina · Andre · Arielle · Arlette · +49 more
-
Italian
52 namesFrom Italian saints, Renaissance scholars, and the Romance-language families that still favor them today.
Alessandra · Alessandro · Alessia · Andrea · +48 more
-
Arabic
48 namesFrom the Quran, classical poetry, and the wider Muslim world. Flowing sounds and meanings of light, nobility, and devotion.
Aaliyah · Adhara · Aisha · Alaia · +44 more
-
Welsh
25 namesFrom the Welsh language and its long literary tradition. Cousins to the Irish names but with their own sound.
Ariana · Arthur · Bowen · Brynlee · +21 more
-
Scottish
24 namesFrom the Highlands and the clans, by way of Gaelic and old surnames. Rugged, mossy, and increasingly first-name material.
Ainsley · Alison · Anderson · Blaire · +20 more
-
Hawaiian
16 namesFrom the islands, where lani means sky and kai means sea. Vowel-rich names that carry the ocean in them.
Ailani · Ailany · Alani · Aylani · +12 more
-
German
15 namesFrom the German-speaking heart of Europe. The same old Germanic roots, kept crisp and modern.
Adelyn · Adelynn · Alina · Alonzo · +11 more
-
Old French
12 namesMedieval French, often entering English with the Normans and then evolving alongside their Anglo-Saxon equivalents.
Adaline · Adeline · Alice · Allison · +8 more
-
Persian
11 namesFrom Persia and its poets and kings. Regal, lyrical names that have traveled the Silk Road for millennia.
Arya · Dariel · Esther · Jasmine · +7 more
-
Sanskrit
11 namesFrom the ancient language of India and its epics. Luminous meanings, often tied to gods, light, and the cosmos.
Anaya · Arjun · Arya · Bodhi · +7 more
-
Scottish Gaelic
11 namesThe Gaelic tongue of Scotland, behind clan names and Highland places. Where Cameron, Isla, and Finley come from.
Blair · Cameron · Colin · Finley · +7 more
-
Slavic
10 namesFrom the Slavic languages of Eastern Europe. Bright, melodic names built on roots like mil, 'dear,' and mir, 'peace.'
Alina · Ivan · Lana · Luka · +6 more
-
American English
9 namesCoined or popularized in the United States. Place names, inventions, and word names with a New World openness.
Alora · Brynlee · Dallas · Maverick · +5 more
-
Celtic
8 namesFrom the old Celtic peoples of Britain and Ireland, before the languages split. The shared root beneath Irish, Welsh, and Scottish.
Alaina · Alan · Alana · Arthur · +4 more
-
Old Norse
7 namesFrom the Norse settlers, their sagas, and the languages that shaped English from the Danelaw onward.
Astrid · Eric · Freya · Oliver · +3 more
-
Norman French
6 namesBrought to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror and rooted in English ever since.
Avery · Evelyn · Harvey · Mallory · +2 more
-
Scandinavian
6 namesFrom Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Clean, sturdy names with a cool Nordic minimalism.
Axel · Bo · Gunner · Jensen · +2 more
-
Basque
5 namesFrom the Basque country in the western Pyrenees, a language older than any of its neighbors. Home of Xavier and Amaya.
Alaia · Amaya · Iker · Javier · +1 more
-
Dutch
5 namesFrom the Netherlands, often surnames turned given names. The source of trendy picks like Skylar and Ryker.
Brooklyn · Hendrix · Kyler · Ryker · +1 more
-
Japanese
5 namesFrom Japan, where a name's meaning lives in its characters. Nature, virtue, and myth in a few clean syllables.
Amaya · Kaizen · Kobe · Raiden · +1 more
-
Portuguese
5 namesFrom Portugal and Brazil. Romance-language warmth with its own soft, rolling music.
Amora · Jose · Pedro · Rio · +1 more
-
Aramaic
4 namesFrom the ancient Semitic language of the Near East, spoken in Jesus' time. The root behind Thomas and Silas.
Maryam · Silas · Tadeo · Thomas
-
African
3 namesDrawn from across the African continent and its many languages. Names tied to rivers, places, and heritage.
Kyaire · Zaire · Zyaire
-
Russian
3 namesFrom Russia and its literary giants. Soft diminutives and saints' names with an Eastern Orthodox lineage.
Anya · Kira · Nina
-
Swahili
3 namesFrom East Africa's lingua franca, spoken across the coast and inland. Names like Zuri, 'beautiful,' and Kamari.
Kamari · Kobe · Zuri
-
Danish
2 namesFrom Denmark, crisp and Scandinavian. The home of Soren and Maren.
Maren · Soren
-
Native American
2 namesFrom the Indigenous peoples of North America. Place and nature names that carry the land's own words.
Dakota · Koda
-
Norman
2 namesFrom the Normans, the Norse-descended settlers of northern France who reshaped England after 1066.
Alison · Evelynn
-
Norse
2 namesFrom Norse myth and the old North. The gods, the sagas, and a fresh wave of Viking-inspired picks.
Erick · Odin
-
Turkish
2 namesFrom Turkey and the Turkic world. Names like Ayla, 'moonlight,' bridging Europe and Asia.
Ayla · Aylin
-
Akkadian
1 nameFrom the oldest known Semitic language, written in cuneiform in ancient Mesopotamia. The root behind Lilith.
Lilith
-
Australian
1 nameCoined or popularized in Australia, often bright and easygoing.
Kylie
-
Breton
1 nameFrom Brittany in northwest France, a Celtic language carried across the Channel from Britain.
Harvey
-
Chinese
1 nameFrom Chinese, where a name is chosen character by character. Often nature, virtue, or light.
Lian
-
Cornish
1 nameFrom Cornwall, the Celtic tongue of England's far southwest, kin to Welsh and Breton.
Elowyn
-
Frankish
1 nameThe Germanic tongue of the Franks, who gave their name to France. Behind names like Louis.
Louis
-
Gaelic
1 nameFrom the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland, behind soft, nature-rooted names.
Kylie
-
Guarani
1 nameFrom the Guarani people of South America, a language still widely spoken in Paraguay and beyond.
Anahi
-
Igbo
1 nameFrom the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. Names rich with blessing and meaning.
Amara
-
Mayan
1 nameFrom the Maya civilizations of Mesoamerica and their living descendant languages.
Itzel
-
Modern coinage
1 nameInvented names with no older root, born from sound and trend rather than history.
Ailany
-
Occitan
1 nameFrom the langue d'oc of southern France, the language of the medieval troubadours.
Eleanor
-
Old Persian
1 nameThe ancient tongue of the first Persian empire, behind royal names like Cyrus and Darius.
Cyrus
-
Swedish
1 nameFrom Sweden, where the old Norse roots turned soft and modern.
Dahlia
-
Taino
1 nameFrom the Taino, the Indigenous people of the Caribbean, whose words crossed into English by way of Spanish.
Savannah
-
Tupi
1 nameFrom the Tupi peoples of Brazil, whose words live on in names like Yara, the water spirit.
Yara
-
Zapotec
1 nameFrom the Zapotec people of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, one of Mesoamerica's oldest cultures.
Nayeli