Tugomil

  • Origin: Croatian
  • Meaning: “beloved in grief.”
  • Gender: Masculine

The name is a rare Croatian masculine name, composed of the Old Slavonic elements, tuga (sorrow, grief) and mil (dear, beloved).

Its designated name-day is September 15th and is mainly used in Northern Croatia.

A feminine form is Tugomila

Other potential forms include:

  • Tihomil (Czech, Slovak)
  • Tęgomil (Polish)

Source

Krastyo, Krastan, Krustan

Saint Constantine Saint Elena Bulgarian by nationalgalleryofart is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
  • Origin: Bulgarian
  • Meaning: “cross.”

Krastyo кръст is derived from the Bulgarian krast (cross), and is a vernacular form of the Greek, Stavros.

It was borne by Krastyo Krastev (1866-1919), a Bulgarian writer, philosopher and translator known as Bulgaria’s first literary critic. It was also borne by Krastyo Hadzhiivanov, a Bulgarian poet and resistance fighter (1929-1952).

Other forms include: Krastyu, Krastan, Krustan and Krustyo.

Croatian and Serbian forms are Krst and Krstan.

Feminine forms include: Krastana, Krastina, Krustana, and Krustina.

It’s designated name-day is September 14th.

Sources

Suhail, Suhaila

Suhail or sometimes transliterated as Suhayl, is derived from the Arabic word سَھْل (sahl) meaning “level; even; smooth, easy.” It is the Arabic name of the second brightest star known in the western world as Canopus. It’s appearance in the skies have traditionally been linked with the end of summer in the Arab world. It is the name of a few other stars.

It was also borne by one of the contemporaries of the Prophet Mohammed, known as Suhayl ibn ʿAmr (6th-century C.E).

Suhail appeared in the U.K. Top 1000 between 1996-2002, peaking at #694 in 1997. Its Urdu form of Sohail appeared in the U.K. Top 1000 between 1996-2007 and peaked at #305 in 1997.

Other forms include:

  • Suhajl (Albanian, Bosnian)
  • Süheyl (Azeri, Turkish)
  • Suhejlo (Bosnian)
  • Suhӏajlʹ СухӀайль (Chechen)
  • Suheyl (Kurdish)
  • Souhail (Maghrebi Arabic)
  • Soheil سهیل (Persian)
  • Sohail سہیل (Urdu)

It’s feminine form is Suhaila or Suhayla سهيلة

Other forms include:

  • Suhajla (Albanian, Bosnian)
  • Suhejla (Albanian, Bosnian)
  • Süheyla (Azeri, Turkish)
  • Souhaila (Maghrebi Arabic)
  • Soheila سهیلا (Persian)
  • Sohaila سہیل (Urdu)

Sources

Apollinaris, Apollinaire

  • Origin: Greek Ἀπολλινάρις
  • Meaning: “of Apollo.”
  • Gender: Masculine

The name is from the classical Greek, related to Apollo. It was borne by several early Christian saints. The most notable being St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, a Syrian Christian missionary to Ravenna who was martyred there and thereafter became the city’s patron saint.

The French form Apollinaire is linked to the Franco-Polish poet, Guillaume Apollinaire. He lived from 1880 to 1918. He was born Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki.

Apolinary was common in Poland during the late 19th-century and early 20th-centuries, it is now obsolete. Diminutives include: Apolinek, Apollinek, Apolin, Apollin, Polin, Polinary, Polinarek, Polinaruś, Poli, and Polik.

In Italy, Apollinare was mainly used in the Romagna region due to it being the name of their patrion saint, but it has since fallen out of use.

Apollinaire sporadically appeared in the French Top 1000 between 1900 and 1926 and peaked at #403 in 1923. In 2024, 5 babies were given this name.

Neither its masculine form nor its feminine form had much usage in the English-speaking world. It was mostly used in families of Greek or Eastern European background during the late 19th-century.

Designated name-days include July 20th, July 23rd, and September 12th

Other forms include

  • Abolinarius أبونيناريوس (Arab Christian)
  • Apolighnar Ապողլինար (Armenian)
  • Apolinar Ապոլինար (Armenian, Spanish)
  • Apolinaris ܐܦܘܠܝܢܪܝܣ (Assyrian)
  • Apoliñari (Basque)
  • Apalinariy Апалінарый (Belarusian)
  • Appolinariy Апполінарій (Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Rusyn, Russian)
  • Apol·linar, Apol·linari (Catalan)
  • Apollinaris Ⲁⲡⲟⲗⲗⲓⲛⲁⲣⲓⲥ (Coptic, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Scandinavian)
  • Apollinari (Corsican, Sardinian)
  • Apolinár (Czech, Slovak)
  • Apollinaire (French)
  • Apolinario (Galician, Spanish)
  • Apo’linar აპოლინარ (Georgian)
  • Apollinarios Ἀπολλινάριος (Greek)
  • Apollinár (Hungarian)
  • Apollinare (Italian)
  • Apolenaris (Late Latin)
  • Apolinārs (Latvian)
  • Apolinaras (Lithuanian)
  • Apollinarju (Maltese)
  • Apolinary (Polish)
  • Apolinário (Portuguese)
  • Apolinàri (Provençal)
  • Pulinéra (Romagnol)
  • Apollinari (Romansh)
  • Apolinariu (Romanian)
  • Apolinarije (Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian)
  • Apołinare (Venetian)

Its feminine form is Apollinaria, which is also borne by an early Christian saint.

Other feminine forms include:

  • Abolinarya أبوليناريا (Arab Christian)
  • Apoghlinaria Ապողլինարիա (Armenian)
  • Apolinaria Ապոլինարիա, აპოლინარია (Armenian, Galician, Georgian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish)
  • Apolinaryja, Apolinariya,ܐܦܘܠܝܢܪܝܐ, Аполлинария (Assyrian, Bulgarian, Russian, Rusyn, Ukrainian)
  • Apalinariya, Apalinaryja, Апалінарія (Belarusian)
  • Apollinaria Ⲁⲡⲟⲗⲗⲓⲛⲁⲣⲓⲁ, Ἀπολλιναρία (Coptic, Corsican, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Romansh, Sardinian)
  • Apolinária (Czech, Portuguese, Sardinian, Slovak)
  • Apollinarie (French)
  • Apollinária (Hungarian)
  • Apolinārija (Latvian)
  • Apollinarja (Maltese)
  • Apolinària (Provençal)
  • Apolinarija (Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian)

A traditional feminine diminutive form in Russian is Polina. Polish diminutives include: Apollinka, Apollina, Apolinka, Apolla, Apola, Pola, Polka, Polcia, Polina, and Polinka. Modern Greek diminutives include: Nαρία (Naría), Πόλλα (Pólla), or Λίνα (Lina). Potential English short forms would include: Apple, Pollie, Polly, and Narey, or Narie.

Sources

Gerfried

  • Origin: German
  • Meaning: “spear peace”
  • Gender: Male

The name is composed of the German elements, ger (spear), and frid (peace).

It was the name of a 9th-century saint and bishop of Münster.

The designated name-day in Austria is September 12.

Another form is Gerfrid.

Sources

Theodard, Diethard

Bergportaal van Sint-Servaasbasiliek te Maastricht by rijksmuseum is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

Theodard is a Germanic male name which is composed of the elements, diota (people, tribe) and hart (brave, hard, hardy).

The name was borne by St. Theodard of Maastricht, a 7th-century bishop who was robbed and murdered in Speyer, Germany while on his way to save his church from the confiscation of King Childeric, II. His feast-day is September 10.

Another saint with this name is St. Theodard of Narbonne, a 9th-century archbishop.

Diethard is also the name of a municipality in Germany.

Other forms include:

  • Tjaart (Afrikaans)
  • Teodard (Catalan, Polish)
  • Tjeerd (Dutch, Frisian)
  • Dodart (English)
  • Audard, Odard (French)
  • Théodard (French)
  • Dieuwert (Frisian)
  • Tjaard (Frisian)
  • Dethard, Diethard (German)
  • Dietwart, Thiethard (Old German)
  • Teodardo (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)

Feminine forms include, Theodara (Old German), Théodare (French), Audarde (French), and Odarde.

Sources

Zenobia

Zenobia is composed of the Greek elements, Zeus (Zeus) and bios (life). It was notably borne by a 1st-century Armenian queen of Georgian descent and later a 3rd-Century Queen of Palmyra who tried to expand into Roman territory but was defeated by Emperor Aurelian.

Zenobia of Palmyra’s name might have been a Hellenized form of her birth name, Bat-Zabbai, which is from the Aramaic meaning “daughter of Zabbai.” Zabbai itself is an Aramaic male name. It seems to be a theophoric name, meaning “gift of–.” The latter part refers to an unknown deity. It may have actually been an Aramaic form of the Hebrew female name, Bathsheba.

Speculation has also linked it with the Arabic female name Zaynab, which can either mean “father’s beauty” or be from the name of a type of flowering tree.

It was borne by the 3rd-century martyrs, Ss. Zenobia and Zenobius, two early Christians who were siblings and beheaded under Emperor Diocletian. Their feast and name-day is October 30.

In the English-speaking world, it is first recorded in Cornwall and Devon, England in the 16th-century. Early English forms of Synibie, Sinobie, Senobie, Cenobie, and Cenoby (Sen-e-bee; SIN-e-bee), would make interesting revivals in the spirit of Sydney and Willoughby. A common English diminutive was Nobby.

Zenobia appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Female names between 1881-1925, peaking at #669 in 1909.

Zenobia is no stranger to English literature, it is the name of a character in Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Blithedale Romance (1852); Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (1911); and is even used by Anne Rice in her the eighth book of her vampire series, Blood and Gold (2001).

Zenobia “Nobby” Hawthorne appears as a character in the P.G. Wodehouse series, Jeeves.

Tina Fey used this as the middle name of daughter, Alice Zenobia.

Other forms include

  • Zenobia Զենոբիա ზენობია ܙܢܘܒܝܐ Armenian, Assyrian, Coptic, Czech, Danish, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Provencal, Romanian, Swedish, Spanish)
  • Zanubya ܙܢܘܒܝܐ (Assyrian)
  • Zinovia Зіновія Зиновия Ζηνοβία Зіновія (Belarusian, Modern Greek, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian)
  • Zinovija Зиновия (Bulgarian, Serbian)
  • Cenobia (Catalan, English, Spanish, Swedish)
  • Anobia Ⲁⲛⲟⲃⲓⲁ (Coptic); Zanubiyah زنوبيا (Modern Arabic/Coptic)
  • Zenobie (English, archaic)
  • Senobia, Senobie, Sinobia (English)
  • Synibie, Sinobie, Cenobie, Cenoby (English)
  • Senopia (Finnish)
  • Zénobie, Zénobine (French)
  • Zenovia Ζηνοβία(Greek, modern, Romanian)
  • Zenóbia (Hungarian)
  • Zanobia (Italian, archaic)

Diminutives

  • Zinooba, Nubya (Assyrian)
  • Nobby, Zeena, Zina (English)
  • Pia, Piiu, Piu, Seno, Senu (Finnish)
  • Zena, Zenna (Hungarian)
  • Zenka, Zenobijka, Zenia, Zeba, Zebia, Zebka, Zeniulka, Zenusia, Zeniusia, Zeneczka (Polish)
  • Zina Зина (Russian)

Masculine forms include

  • Zenob Զենոբ (Armenian)
  • Zinovi Զինովի (Armenian)
  • Zenobio ܙܢܘܒܝܐ (Assyrian, Italian, Spanish)
  • Kenoba (Basque)
  • Zinovij Зиновий (Bulgarian, Serbian)
  • Cenobio, Zenobi (Catalan)
  • Zenóbe (French)
  • Zenobios Ζηνόβιος (Greek, classical)
  • Zinovios Ζηνόβιος (Greek, modern)
  • Zenóbiosz (Hungarian)
  • Zanobi (Italian, archaic)
  • Zenobiusz, Zenobi (Polish)
  • Zenovie (Romanian)
  • Zinoviy Зиновий Зіновій (Russian, Ukrainian)

Sources

Ot(h)mar, Ottmar, Ottomar, Audomar, Omer

  • Origin: Germanic
  • Meaning: “wealth, fortune; fame.”
  • Gender: Masculine

The root name is the Frankish Audomar, which is composed of the elements aud (wealth, fortune), and mari (fame).

It was borne by an 8th-century saint and monk, an abbot of St. Gall, Switzerland and a 7th-century Frankish saint, after whom the French commune of St-Omer was named.

The designated name-day is September 8th.

Other forms include:

  • Otmar (Alemmanish, Catalan, Czech, German, Polish, Romansh)
  • Eadmær (Anglo-Saxon)
  • Audomarus (Dutch, Late Latin)
  • Odomar (Dutch)
  • Edmar (English, Swedish)
  • Ottomar (Estonian, German, Scandinavian)
  • Audomar (French, Frankish, Polish)
  • Adémar, Adhémar (French)
  • Audomar (French, German)
  • Omer (French)
  • Ottmar (German)
  • Otmár (Hungarian)
  • Ómar (Icelandic)
  • Ademaro (Italian)
  • Ödhmar (Old Norse)
  • Onmé (Picard)
  • Ademar, Adhemar (Portuguese)
  • Ademir (Portuguese – Brazilian)
  • Omeru (Sicilian)
  • Otmaro (Spanish)

French feminine forms which had some use in the 19th-century are Amérine, Omère and Omérine

Sources

Perpetua

  • Origin: Late Latin
  • Gender: Female
  • Meaning: “perpetual.”
  • Eng pron (per-PET-choo-ah)

The name is derived from the Latin perpetuus, meaning “continous; perpetual.” It was borne by a 3rd-century Christian matyr and saint, the companion of St. Felicity and it was also the name of the sister of St. Augustine of Hippo.

Perpetua and its various forms have been in sporadic use throughout the Catholic world. In Italy, it became synonymous with a priest’s housekeeper. This is due to the eponymous character in Alessandro Manzoni’s 19th-century novel, “The Betrothed.

It experienced sporadic use in England in the 1920s after the release of the now lost 1922 film, Perpetua also known as Love’s Boomerang.

It has recently appeared in English literature as the name of minor characters in Bridget Jones’s Diary (Helen Fielding), and in the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling).

It was borne by Scottish landscape painter, Perpetua Pope (1916-2013).

It is the name of Cape Perpetua Oregon which was named for St. Perpetua as well as a typeface.

It’s designated name-day is February 1, March 6th and March 7th.

Forms & Usages

  • Perpetua (Basque, Croatian, Dutch, Galician, German, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Provençal, Romanian, Spanish)
  • Perpètua (Catalan)
  • Perpétue, Perpétué, Perpetue (French)
  • Perpétua (Hungarian, Portuguese)
  • Perpetuya Перпетуя (Russian)

English short forms include: Perp, Perpie, Perpy, and Petty.

Masculine forms include

  • Perpeta (Basque)
  • Perpetu (Catalan)
  • Perpet (French, Polish)
  • Perpetuo (Italian, Spanish)
  • Perpète (French)
  • Perpetuus (Late Latin)
  • Perpetuüs (German)

Sources

Bogoljub, Bogoljuba

Photo by Boris Hamer on Pexels.com
  • Origin: Serbo-Croatian Богољуб, Slovenian
  • Meaning: “love of God.”

Bogoljub is composed of the South Slavic elements, bog (God) and ljub (love). It was originally a South Slavic vernacular form of Theophilus and Amadeus.

Its designated name-day in Croatia is March 7th and March 30 in Slovenia.

Common diminutive forms include: Bole, Bogo, Bogi, Bojan, Bojica, Bojko, Ljubo and Ljuban.

It is borne by Serbian Statesman, Bogoljub Jevtić (1886–1960), Serbian Businessman, Bogoljub Karić (b. 1954), and Serbian basketball player, Bogoljub Marković (b. 2005).

Its feminine form is Bogoljuba, and affectionate forms include Boba, Bojana, Bojka, Ljubica.

Sources