Category Archives: Most Popular Names

Elvira

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gothic fashion portrait with dramatic lighting
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  • Origin: Visigothic
  • Meaning: Uncertain
  • Usage: Albanian, Bashkir, Bosnian, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Galician, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Portuguese, Provençal, Romanian, Romansch, Russian, Scandinavian, Slovene, Tatar
  • Transcription: Эльвира (Russian)
  • Gender: Female
  • Eng (el-VY-rah); Sp (el-VEE-rah; el-BEE-rah)

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

Zubaidah, Zubayda

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  • Origin: Arabic زُبَيْدَة (Arabic)
  • Usage: Arabic-speaking world, most of the Islamic world
  • Gender: Female
  • Meaning: “little butterball.”

The name is derived from the Arabic rootز-ب- د (z-b-d), which pertains to “cream, foam, butter,” along with the Arabic feminine diminutive suffix, roughly translating to “little cream” or “little butter,” having the same sense as “cream of the crop.”

This was the sobriquet of Zubaidah bint Ja’far (766–831), the wife of Harun al-Rashid. Borne as Sukhainah or Amat al-‘Aziz, she was known for her construction of wells and reservoirs along the pilgramage routes to Mecca and is featured in The Thousand and One Nights. Her life was later the inspiration behind the character of Zobeide in the German opera Abu Hassan by Carl Maria von Weber.

The Turkish form of the name, Zübeyde, was borne by an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Ahmed II, who lived from 1728 to 1756. It was also carried by Zübeyde Hanım (1856–1923), the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The name appeared in the Top 100 most popular female names in Turkey between 1980 and 1986, peaking at #70 in 1981

It is also the name of an asteroid.

Other forms include

  • Zübeydə (Azeri)
  • Zubejda (Bosnian)
  • Zobeide (German, literary)
  • Zoubida (Maghrebi Arabic)
  • Zubaida Зөбаида (Tatar)
  • Zübeyde (Turkish)
  • Zubayda (Uzbek)

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Botond

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  • Origin: Hungarian
  • Meaning: “mace; stick.”
  • Gender: masculine
  • Pron: BO-tond

The name is an old traditional Hungarian name, derived from the word bot meaning “mace; or stick.” It was a relatively rare name until recently, as of 2022, it was the 11th most popular male name in Hungary.

Its designated name-days in Hungary are March 28, May 16 and July 28.

Common Hungarian diminutive forms are: Boti, Botika, Botus, Tondi.

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Embla

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  • Origin: Old Norse
  • Meaning: unknown
  • Gender: feminine
  • EM-blah

The name appears in Norse Mythology as the name of the first woman, who has a husband named Ask. They are attested to in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.

The name Embla itself may derive from the Proto-Norse *elm-la (elm tree), the Proto-Norse *Ambilō (vine) or the Proto-Norse eim + la (firemaker) and it has even been connected with the Germanic root word, amal (work).

It is first attested to in Sweden in 1882, in Norway in 1900, and in Iceland after 1950, however, it may have been in use in Medieval times as well.

Between 2010 and 2016, this was among the most popular female names in Iceland. In Iceland, it peaked at #8 in 2016 . It is currently the 96th Most Popular Female Name in Norway (2023).

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Koa

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  • Origin: Hawaiian
  • Meaning: warrior; soldier; brave; name of a type of tree endemic to Hawaii
  • Gender: masculine

The name comes directly from the Hawaiian word for “brave; courage; fearless” also a warrior or a soldier and it is the name of a type of tree acacia koa, which is endemic to Hawaii.

It currently ranks in as the 97th most popular male name in Australia, NSW (2022), the 349th most popular male name in the United States and the 489th most popular in England and Wales (2021).

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Álvaro, Alvaro

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  • Origin: Germanic
  • Meaning: debated
  • Gender: masculine

The name is of unknown origin or meaning, the consensus is that it is Germanic but which Germanic language it originates from is up for debate. Since it first occurred in Spain, the most likely is that it is of Gothic origins, possibly composed of the Germanic elements *allaz “all, whole, every”‘ and wart “‘guard, ward.” The second element may also stem from wars (cautious, guarded). Others have related it to the Old Norse, Hallvadr (hall-guard) or Alfarr (elf-warrior), but this is less likely.

The name has been in use in the Iberian peninsula since Medieval times, it was borne by Álvar Fáñez (12th-century), a vassal of El Cid and the subject of the Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de mio Cid.

It is the progenitor of the Spanish surname, Alvarez/Álvarez and the Portuguese, Alves.

Álvaro is the 10th most popular male name in Spain as of 2022. His rankings in other countries/regions are as follows:

  • #22 (Galicia, Spain)
  • #69 (Catalonia, Spain)
  • #97 (Chile, 2021)
  • #99 (Basque Country, Spain)
  • #188 (Mexico, 2021)
  • #794 (United States)

Usage/Forms

  • Àlvar (Catalan)
  • Álvaro (Portuguese, Spanish)
  • Álvaro (Galician)
  • Alvar (German, Scandinavian)
  • Alvaro (Italian)
  • Alvarus (Latin)
  • Alwar (Polish)

Feminine forms include, Álvara (Portuguese, Spanish), Alvara (Italian, Scandinavian).

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Csanád

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Bust of Csanád in Érsekcsanád
  • Origin: Hungarian
  • Meaning: unknown
  • Gender: masculine
  • Approx phonetic pronunciation: (CHAW-nad); IPA: (CHAW-nad)

The name is derived from a Magyar clan name, Csana, with the Hungarian diminutive suffix of -d added. Csana itself is of unknown etymology.

The name was borne by an 11th-century Hungarian ruler, a nephew of Stephan I of Hungary, also known as Cenad in Romanian, who was known for defeating his former ally Ajtony, and being given the county of what is now known as Csanád County in Hungary & Cenad County in Romania. He is recorded in the 13th-century Gesta Ungarorum and the the 14th-century, Long Life of St Gerard.

In post-modern Hungary, the name had been relatively rare prior to the 1990s but exploded in popularity by the 2000s. It appeared in the Top 100 Most Popular Male Names in Hungary between 2003-2018, peaking at #53 in 2007.

The designated name-days in Hungary are April 12, May 28, September 6 & December 5.

Other Hungarian forms include: Csana, Csani & Csankó.

Other forms include:

  • Chanadinus (Late Latin)
  • Cenad (Romanian)
  • Chanadin (Romanian)

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Doğan

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  • Origin: Turkish
  • Meaning: “falcon.”
  • Gender: masculine
  • Pron: (DOH-ahn)

The name comes directly from the Turkish word for “falcon” or “hawk,” but is also a synonym for “rising,” or “born” in the Turkish language.

It appeared in the Top 100 Most Popular Male Names in Turkey between 1987-2002 and peaked at #74 in 1998.

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Phaedra

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Phèdre. Alexandre Cabanal
  • Origin: Greek Φαίδρα
  • Meaning: “bright.”
  • Gender: feminine
  • Pronunciation: Eng (FAY-drah, FYE-drah, FEED-rah)

The name comes directly from the Greek word φαιδρός meaning, “bright.”

It is borne in Greek mythology by the sister of Ariadne and the wife of Theseus. There are several versions of her tragic tale, one is that Aphrodite drove Phaedra to fall madly in love with the latter’s step-son, Hippolytus who rejects Phaedra, and in retaliation, Phaedra claims that Hippolytus attempted to rape her. Theseus who was granted 3 wishes by Poseidon wishes his own’s son death by having Poseidon summon 3 bulls from the sea who subsequently dragged Hippolytus to death. In another version of the tale, Phaedra falls in love with Hippolytus of her own free-will but he rejects her, and the story follows the same sequence of events as above.

The story was retold by Ovid and Senece the Younger and later became the popular subject of plays throughout Europe.

In England and France, the name became more widespread after its use in Jean Racine’s 1677 play, Phèdre and later Algernon Charles Swinborn’s1866 play, Phaedra. Friedrich Schiller also wrote a play and recently it was the subject of the opera written by German playwrite, Hans Werner Henze.

It is also another name for the plant, Bernardia, as well as the name of a genus of butterfly and an asteroid.

In France, Phèdre is a unisex name as it is a translation of both Phaedra & Phaedrus.

Phaedra appeared in the Top 100 Most Popular Female Names in Belgium, ranking in at #87 in 1997.

A masculine form is Phaedrus and Phaidros.

Forms and use include:

  • Fedra Федра (Catalan, Corsican, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, Ukrainian)
  • Faidra (Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovakian, Swedish)
  • Fædra (Danish)
  • Phaedra (Dutch, English, Latin)
  • Phèdre (French)
  • Phaidra Φαίδρα (German, Greek)
  • Phädra (German)

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Aynur, Ainura

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  • Origin: Turkish
  • Meaning: “moonlight.”
  • Gender: feminine
  • Pronunciation: I-noor; i-NOO-rah

Aynur is a Turkic female name, which is composed of the elements, ay (moon) and nur (light). It’s various offshoots across Central Asia have been popularly used.

Aynur appeared in the Turkish Top 100 Female Names between 1980-1997, and peaked at #22 in 1980.

Aynur is used as a female name in Azerbaijan, among the Uyghur and the Kurds. Among the Tatars of Russia, it is a masculine name, while Ajnur is a male name in Bosnia and Albania, it currently ranks in as the 11th most popular male name in Bosnia & Herzegovina (2019).

Other forms include:

  • Ajnura (Albanian, Bosnian)
  • Ainur Айнұр (Kazakh)
  • Ainura, Aynura Айнура (Kyrgyz)
  • Ainuria, Aynurya Айнурия (Tatar)

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