All names are derived from the Sanskrit जीवा (life).
In Hinduism and Jainism, the term jiva is used to describe the soul.
Jiva can be unisex and was borne by the 4th-century (CE) Buddhist nun and sister of King Kucha as well as a 16th-century male Hindu philosopher and saint, Jiva Goswami.
Jiva ultimately derives from the Indo-European *gʷih₃wotós, which also produced the Latin vita (life), Lithuanian gyvatà (life) and Proto-Slavic *živòtъ (life). See Živa of the same etymology.
The name comes directly from the Biblical Hebrew יִרְאֶה (jireh) meaning, “to provide” or “to see.” In the Bible, it is the name of a place the where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac before God intervened and provided a ram in his place. It has been in sporadic use as both a male and female given name in England and the United States since the 17th-century. It was born by a 19th-century Michigan politican, Jira Payne.
It has recently appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Male Names, coming in at #848 (2023). Its sudden appearance may have been popularized by the Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music song of the same name, released in 2021.
Its Spanish version of Yireh, is used as a unisex given name in Latin American countries.
The name comes directly from the Greek ἴον (ion) meaning “violet” and ἄνθος (anthos). It is borne in Greek mythology by an Oceanid nymph who was responsible for violet flowers and purple tinged clouds. It is also the name of Cretan woman in Greek mythology who marries Iphis after she is turned into a man by Aphrodite.
It was in vogue in 19th-century England, being the nickname for Lady Charlotte Harley, by Lord Byron to whom the poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is dedicated. It was also used by Percey Bysshe Shelley’s poem, Queen Mab, in which it is the name of a character. Shelley later named his daughter Ianthe. It is also the name of a character in John William Polidori’s 1819 short story, The Vampyre. It was the pen-name of American writer and poet, Emma Catherine Embury (1806-1863).
In recent literature, it is the name of a character in the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
The name is composed of the Hebrew elements from the Hebrew עשה (asa), “to do or make,” and אל (‘el), “God, divinity.” It is born in the Bible by 2 different characters, some allege they are the same person, a Moabite Warrior of King David and a Benjamite leader.
As of 2023, Jasiel appears in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Male Names as the 939th most popular male name.
Meaning: “my father is a candle; my father is Ner; son of Ner.”
Gender: masculine
The name is composed of the Hebrew elements, ab אב (father) and ner נר (candle). In the Bible, the name is borne by a cousin of King Saul and the commander and chief of his army, son of Ner. His name also appears as אבינר בן נר (Abiner), literally meaning “son of Ner.”
As a given-name in the English-speaking world, it came into use after the Protestant Reformation and was quite common. The name was used by Eastern Christians and Jews for much longer. However, Abnér was borne by an 8th-century Irish monk.
It appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880 and 1938 and peaked at #289 in 1881. It reappeared in the top 1000 in 2020, and disappeared and was resurrected in 2023, coming in at #997.
In Medieval Europe, it was borne by Abner of Burgos (1270-1347), a Jewish convert to Christianity who became a polemical philosopher against Judaism. Upon his conversion to Christianity, he took the name, Alfonso of Valladolid.
The name is borne in the Bible by the son of Joseph and Asenath, who is considered a patriarch, as he is a founder of one of the 12 trubes of Israel. According Genesis 41:52, he is named thus by Joseph because “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
The name was also borne by a few early Christian saints, including St. Ephraim of Syria (4th-century, CE).
Ephraim appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880-1914, it disappeared for 99 years and reappeared in the charts in 2013. For its first centennial cycle, it peaked at #403 in 1880. As of 2023, it was the 992nd most popular male name.
Its Spanish counterparts of Efraín and Efrén have also appeared in the U.S. Top 1000, Efraín appeared between 1950 and 2014, peaking at #469 in 1981 whilst Efrén appeared between 1966-2007, peaking at #768 in 1990.
Pron: Eng (i-DAH-lee-ah; id-DAHL-yah); Pol (ee-DAHL-yah)
The name can have a few different origins and meanings. It does seem to appear in use in Medieval France, in this case, it may be an elaborated form of a Germanic name, perhaps related to a Frankish element, idal (unknown meaning) or the Old Norse ið, meaning “work.” Alternately, it appears in Greek mythology as an epithet for the goddess Aphrodite. In this case, the etymology is from the name of city on the island of Cyprus called Idalion, in which a temple to Aphrodite existed. The etymology of the city name itself is from the Greek Eidon helios, “I saw the sun.”
The name has had use across Europe. In Poland, it came into use in the 19th-century when Juliusz Słowacki used it as the name of a heroin in his 1866 play, Fantazy. It was thereafter used as the name of a character in the 1909 novel, Trędowata by Helena Mniszkówna.
In Poland, it has appeared in and out of the 200 most popular female names between 2010 and 2022, peaking at #172 in 2021.
In 2023, 160 girls were given this name in the United States.
The name can either be a contracted form of the female Welsh name Gwenllian (white linen; white flax) or derive from the Welsh word lliain (flax, linen).
The name is a modern English form of the Anglo-Saxon male name, Wada which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb wadan (to go), spawning the modern English verb “to wade.” Several individuals with this as a first name are recorded in the Doomsday Book. It spun off the patronymic surname of the same meaning. It went out of use in Anglo-Norman England but was reintroduced in the 19th-century, possibly used in honor of a family surname.
It is the name of a legendary figure in Germanic folklore, the father of Wayland. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, makes mention of him and Wade’s Tale is alluded to by Chaucer in Troilus & Criseyde.
In its Old Norse incarnation of Vadi or Vaði, he is made mention of in the Þiðrekssaga and the Poetic Edda.
It is currently the 345th most popular male name in the United States (2022).
