Eng Pron: (THANTZ); Germ pron: (TAHN-seh; TAHN-ko)
A popular Old Germanic name element, derived from the Old High German “thanc,” meaning “to thank.” Some early records list Thance as a male name, more likely pronounced the German way, it may make a unique alternative to Vance when pronounced the English way.
The name later evolved into Tanco, Tanko, Danco and Danko.
Manoah appears in Judges 13, described as a man from Zorah of the tribe of Dan. His wife is unnamed, but together they become the parents of Samson after an angelic visitation.
The name itself is derived from the Hebrew root נוּחַ (nuach) meaning “to rest, to settle, to repose, to be at ease.”
Between the 18th-century to early 20th-century, Manoah experienced some use in the U.S. and England. Common short forms were Manny, Menno and Noah.
In 2023, it appeared in the Netherlands charts for the most popular male names, though it did not rank in very high, coming in at #422.
Anglo-Saxon variation: Herefrið; English form: Herefrith
German pron: HER-freet
The name is composed of the Germanic elements heri (army) and fridu (peace).
It is currently very rare in contemporary German-speaking countries, a notable bearer being German political scientist, Herfried Münkler (b. 1951).
Herefrið is the Anglo-Saxon version, written as Herefrith in Modern English. It was borne by a 9th-century Bishop of Winchester and an Abbott of Lindisfarne recorded in the works of the Venerable Bede.
It’s designated name-day in Austria is November 9th.
Prosdocimus is a Late Latin form of the Greek Προσδόκιμος (Prosdokimos), derived from prosdokein, meaning “the awaited; the expected,” allegedly used for a long awaited child.
The name is best known from Saint Prosdocimus, a 1st-century Christian bishop and missionary of Greek origin, who evangelized the region around Patavium (Padua) in northern Italy. He is venerated as the first bishop and patron saint of Padua, and a major church, the Basilica di San Prosdocimo, adjoining the Abbey of Santa Giustina, bears his name. His cult was established early in the Christian era and remained locally important throughout the Middle Ages.
Because of the saint’s regional veneration, the given name Prosdocimo remained rare and was used mainly in the Veneto, occasionally appearing in baptismal records in Padua and neighboring areas. Outside northern Italy it has always been exceptional, preserved chiefly in ecclesiastical or hagiographic contexts.
Poetic, bold and well, grim, it is an obsolete Medievel gem which is composed of the Germanic elements, ebur (boar) and grim (bold; fierce; grim).
Source
S.L. Uckelman. “Evergrim”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Evergrim.
Craft is a Latinate form of the German, Kraft (power; strength). It was in use as a male given-name in Medieval Germanic countries but is today obsolete. A variant Latinate form is Crafto.
This may make the perfect name for a Halloween baby.
Sources
S.L. Uckelman. “Craft”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Craft.
Socin, Adolf. Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch: Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts. Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903. Digitized by the Bavarian State Library. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10931113
A 19th-century gem and late 20th-century vampiric monikor, the name is of uncertain meaning but has its origins in Medieval Spain. It is likely of Visigothic origins, possibly derived from Gailawera or Geloyra, which stem from gails (happy) or (spear); and wers (friendly, agreeable, true).
It should be noted that Elvira (Latin: Iliberri or Iliberis) was an ancient Iberian and later Roman city located near present-day Granada, in Andalusia, southern Spain. However, in this case, it is likely derived from an Iberian source, meaning “new town.”
It was a popular female name among the royal family of Castille & León, producing two queens who bore this name, Elvira of Castile, Queen of León (965–1017) and Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily (c. 1100–1135).
It was later used in Mozart’s 1787 opera Don Giovanni (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte), in which Donna Elvira is one of Don Giovanni’s former lovers. This likely popularized the name outside of the Iberian peninsula.
By the turn of the 20th-century, Elvira was not unknown in the United States, though never overly popular, it peaked at #254 in 1914, but fell out the Top 1000 by 1981, the same year Elvira, Mistress of the Dark came on the scene.
The real Halloween link began in 1981, when actress Cassandra Peterson created the camp-horror TV hostess Elvira, Mistress of the Dark for a Los Angeles late-night show (Movie Macabre).
Dressed in a plunging black gown with a beehive of jet hair, Elvira presented old horror movies with sardonic humor — blending Gothic sex appeal, irony, and B-movie kitsch.
The character became a pop-culture icon: Halloween TV specials, films, pinball machines, comic books, and even perfume lines immortalized her as the Queen of Halloween.
Outside the United States, this name does not have such associations. In Sweden, it has been among the top 100 girls’ since 1998 and peaked at #25 in 2014. As of 2024, it came in at #40.
It’s a popular name in the Balkans, even spinning off a male form of Elvir (Bosnian and Albanian).
Other forms include:
Elbire (Basque)
Elvíra (Czech/Slovakian)
Elviira (Estonian, Finnish)
Elvire (French)
Elwira (Polish, also an alternate Swedish spelling, Sorbian)
Elvīra (Latvian)
Elvyra (Lithuanian)
Obscure Lithuanian male forms are the Lithuanian, Elvyras; the Polish, Elwir(o), and the Italian Elviro.
Name days: August 25 (Austria), July 16 (Croatia), February 10 (Hungary), January 25 (Spain), March 1 (Sweden), November 21 (Slovakia), August 13 (Latvia).
Sources
Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950.
A name forever haunted by legend and scripture, Ichabod carries an aura of solemnity and old-world eeriness. Though seldom used today, its deep Biblical roots and literary afterlife make it a quintessential Halloween name with legitimate historical pedigree.
The name appears in the Old Testament (Hebrew: אִי־כָבוֹד, ’I-Kavod), meaning “no glory” or “the glory has departed.” It is first recorded in 1 Samuel 4:21, where Phinehas’s wife, upon hearing of the Ark of the Covenant’s capture and her husband’s death, names her newborn son Ichabod to mark Israel’s loss of divine favor.
In the English-speaking world, the name came into use in the 17th-century, mainly among Puritan families.
In colonial America, one of the best-known bearers was Reverend Ichabod Wiswall (1637–1700) of Massachusetts.
The name’s haunting reputation was sealed by Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Its lanky, superstitious schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, pursued by the Headless Horseman, transformed the Biblical lament into a symbol of American Gothic folklore.
Irving is believed to have drawn the name from a real historical figure, Colonel Ichabod Bennett Crane (1787–1857), an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps whom the author reportedly met while stationed at Fort Pike, New York. The coincidence of name and temperament lent the fictional character an extra layer of realism — and ensured that Ichabod would forever echo through ghostly New England legend.
It is borne by several other famous early American personages,
Traditional short forms in the 18th-19th centuries were Cabe, Bud, and Buddy.
The name is from the Old German, magin, magen (powerful) and wulf (wolf).
The name was borne by a 9th-century saint, a godson of Charlemagne, who according to legend found his monastery on the spot where he saw a stag appear with a cross between its antlers.
It is also a German surname, in which case, it is a patronymic derived from the given-name.
The designated name-day is October 5th.
Usage
The name is used in Dutch-speaking countries, German-speaking countries and Nordic countries, though nowadays, it is rather old fashioned.
German Diminutives
Meino
International Variations
Melf (Frisian)
Meinolph (German, alternate spelling)
Meinolphus (Latin)
Maganulf, Maginulf, Meginulf (Old German)
Magnulf (Old Norse)
Sources
S.L. Uckelman. “Meinulf”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Meinulf.
