Arianwen

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Sebastiane

Origin: Welsh
Meaning: “holy silver; white silver.”
Gender: feminine
Pronounciation: (AH-ree-AHN-wen)

The name is composed of the Welsh elements, arian (silver) but in modern Welsh has taken on the meaning of “cash; money; finances; valuables,” and gwen (white, holy) and gwyn (white, holy).

This is recorded as the name of an 5th-century Welsh saint, one of the daughters of St. Brychan.

The name is borne by Australian actress, Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood (b.1987).

Sources

Menas, Minas, Mina

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Sebastiane

Arabic مينا;
Armenian Մինաս
Coptic ⲙⲏⲛⲁ
Ge’ez ሜናስ
Greek Μηνᾶς

Menas is a popular male name among Eastern Christians, it is of uncertain meaning, it may derive from the Greek μήνη (mene) meaning, “moon,” or the ancient Egyptian Menes, which is the name of a 3rd-century BCE Egyptian pharaoh, in which case, the name derives from the ancient Egyptian, mnj (he who endures). It may also be related to the ancient Egyptian divinity name, Min, which is of uncertain meaning. However, according to Coptic tradition, the name means “amen.”

It is the name of a popular 2nd-century Coptic saint and martyr, known as Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲏⲛⲁ (Abba Mina). According to legend, St. Menas’ parents were devout Christians who were having a hard time having children. His mother prayed to the Virgin Mary for a child, and she heard a response saying “amen,” this is where the name Menas supposedly derives from. It is speculated by some that the Western St. Christopher and the Eastern St. Menas are one and the same person. It is also borne by an Ethiopian saint of the 6th-century (CE) and a 16th-century CE Ethiopian emperor.

It was the name of 1st-century CE Roman admiral who features in Shakespeares, Antony & Cleopatra.

Other forms of the name include:

Minasə ሚናስ (Amharic)
Mina مينا; Мина ⲙⲏⲛⲁ Ми́на Міна (Arabic, Bulgarian, Coptic, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian)
Minas Մինաս Μηνάς (Armenian, Greek)
Menna (Catalan)
Ménas (French)
Menas (German, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish)
Ménász, Mennasz, Mínász (Hungarian)
Mena (Italian)

Sources

Masuma

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Sebastiane

Origin: Arabic معصومة
Meaning: “innocent; sinless.”
Gender: feminine
Pronunciation: MAH-soo-mah

The name is from the Arabic word meaning “innocent; sinless.” It was the sobriquet of a Shia Muslim saint by the name of Fatimah bint Musa, known as Fatimah al-Masumah (circ. 7th-century CE). She was the daughter of the seventh Twelver Shi’a Imam, Musa al-Kadhim and the sister of the eight Twelver Shia Imam, Ali al-Rida. Her shrine, which is located in Qom, Iran, is an important point of pilgrimage for many Shi’a Muslims.

The name was also borne by Masuma Sultan Begun (d. 1509), the Queen Consort of the Ferghana Valley & Samarkand & the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, founder of the Mughul Dynasty.

A variant transliteration is Massouma.

Other forms of the name include:

Məsumə (Azeri)
Masoumeh معصومه (Persian)
Masume (Turkish)

Sources

Prosper

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Sebastiane

220px-Prospero_and_miranda

Origin: English, French
Gender: masculine

The name is the English form of the Late Latin Prosperus (fortunate, successful). It was borne by a 5th-century French saint who was a follower of St. Augustine of Hippo as well as a 5th-century Italian saint.

The name was also sporadically used among the Puritans.

Other forms include:

Prósperu (Asturian)
Pròsper (Catalan)
Prošper (Croatian)
Prosperus (Dutch, Late Latin)
Prosper (Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish)
Prospero (Italian)
Prosperino (Italian)
Prospa (Kiswahili)
Próspero (Portuguese/Spanish)

It was also borne by French poet, Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1674–1762) & French novelist, Prosper Mérimée (1803–1870).

Prospero is the name of one of the protagonists in Shakespeare’s Tempest.

Sources

Coral, Coralia

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Sebastiane

Portrait_of_a_Woman_with_Coral_Beads_by_Hans_Canon

Coral comes directly from the word for the marine invertebrates whose detached exoskeletons have been used for centuries by various cultures to create jewelry. The word itself is derived from the Greek κοραλλιον (korallion).

It is also the name of an orangish-pink colour.

As a given-name, it has been in use for centuries as its Greek form of Koralia (Coralia in Late Latin) was borne by a 4th-century Christian saint and martyr.

There are records for Corilia in 16th-century England, Corelia in 17th-century England Coreyle in 16th-century Württemberg & Corille in 17th-century France.

Coral appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1881 & 1992, peaking at #486 in 1888.

Other forms of the name include:

Koraljka (Croatian)
Coral (English, Spanish)
Coralia (English, Late Latin)
Corilia (English)
Corail (French)
Corille (French, archaic)
Coreyle (German, archaic)
Koralia Κοραλια (Greek)
Korália (Hungarian)
Coralla, Corallo (Italian)
Koral קורל (Modern Hebrew)

Sources

Wilfred

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Sebastiane

160px-Chichester_Cathedral_Wilfrid_window

Origin: Anglo-Saxon
Meaning: “desiring peace.”
Gender: masculine

The name is composed of the Anglo-Saxon elements, wil (will, desire) and frið (peace). It was borne by 2 English bishops of Worcester, one of whom is a Catholic saint and a 9th-century Catalan count, known as Wilfred the Hairy (b. 878-897). Wilfred was of Gothic origins and he is known to have established a hereditary dukedom in Catalonia. It’s Spanish form of Wilfredo traces its origins back to the Visigoths in Spain and has remained a fairly common male name in many Hispanic countries.

Many name books and dictionaries claim this name fell out of use by the Norman Conquest, but records contradict this claim as Wilfred was still recorded by the 16th-century. More accurately, the name became extremely popular at the turn of the 20th-century in both England & the United States

Wilfred appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880-1984 & peaked at #164 in 1917. In England & Wales, he is currently the 143rd most popular male name (2018).

Other forms include:

Wilfrið (Anglo-Saxon)
Guifré (Catalan)
Vildfred, Wildfred (Danish)
Wilfried (Dutch, German)
Wifred (English)
Wilfrid (English)
Wilfrith (English
Vilfrid (Finnish, Swedish)
Wilfryd (Frisian, Polish)
Vilfredo (Italian)
Wilfredus, Vilfredus (Late Latin)
Willifred (Old German)
Wilfredo (Portuguese, Spanish)
Vilfred, Willfred (Scandinavian)
Wifredo (Spanish)

In the English-speaking world, common short forms include Will, Wilf, Wilfy & Fred. A feminine form that is used in German-speaking countries, the Netherlands, Spanish-speaking countries, Portuguese speaking countries is Wilfreda, while Vilfrida is a Scandinavian feminine form.

Sources

Amabel, Amabilis, Mabel

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Sebastiane

Matilda-0b307f0-7912d7a

Amabilis is a Late Latin unisex name derived from the Latin word for “lovable.” It was used throughout Medieval Western Europe on both males and females, and was borne by a St. Amabilis of Riom (a 5th-century male French saint known in his native language as Amable) and St. Amabilis of Rouen, a 7th-century female French saint.

Amable, Amabel, Mabel have been used exclusively on females in England since Medieval times and was introduced by the Anglo-Normans in the 11th-century. They have gone in and out of popularity since the 11th-century, especially Mabel.

Between 1880-1922, Mabel was among the top 100 most popular female names, peaking at #15 in 1891 and is currently the 435th most popular female name (2018).

In England & Wales, Mabel is currently the 104th most popular female name (2018).

in Ireland, it was often used as an anglicized form of Maeve and it is often speculated that Annabel is an offshoot.

Mabel is the name of a character in C.M. Yonge’s 1854 novel, The Heir of Radclyffe.

Mabel is also used in Dutch, Czech & Slovak, Galician, German & Spanish.

It was borne by several early Anglo-Norman countesses and other notable bearers include: 13th-century English embroiderer, Mable of Bury St. Edmund; Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau (b. 1968); and British pop-singer Mabel (b. 1996).

Other forms include:

Amabel, Amabil, Amiable (Anglo-Norman, English)
Mabinka, Mejbl (Czech, Slovak)
Mabella, Mabelle, Mable, Maybelline (English)
Amabilie, Mabile, Mabilie (French, archaic)
Mábel (Hungarian)
Amabilia (Italian, Late Latin, Swedish)
Mabilia (Italian, Late Latin, English)

Amable & Aimable are male names in France, while Amabile is an Italian unisex form. Caradec or Karadeg are Breton masculine forms that is directly translated from the Latin.

Sources

Barnabas, Barnaby, Barney

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Sebastiane

180px-San_Barnaba

The name is borne by St. Barnabas, a companion of St. Paul who was instrumental in converting gentiles to the new Christian faith. St. Barnabas was believed to be a Cypriot Jew whose true name was Joseph but he is referred to as Barnabas in Acts 4:36, which describes the name to mean “son of consolation,” possibly being linked with the Aramaic בר נחמה, bar neḥmā of the same meaning. Many linguists contradict this meaning and claim that the latter part of the name might actually be derived from the Hebrew nabī נביא meaning “prophet.”

St. Barnabas is considered an early apostle and the founder of the Christian Church in Cyprus who was eventually stoned to death by an angry mob in Syria. He is considered the patron saint of Cyprus and his feast day is June 11th.

As a given-name, Barnaby has been the preferred form in England since medieval times. Its usage spread to the rest of the English-speaking world through colonialism. It spawned the diminutive off-shoot of Barney, which has been used as an independent given-name in its own right.

To millennials, Barney is often associated with the beloved purple dinosaur of their childhood. However, he appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880-1976. Never a huge hit, the highest he ever ranked in the U.S. Charts was #201 in 1887. He hasn’t been seen in the charts since 1976, but in England & Wales he currently ranks in as the #492nd Most Popular Males Name (2018).

Barnaby is currently the 251st Most Popular Male Name in England & Wales (2018). Whereas Barnabás is currently the 32nd Most Popular Male Name in Hungary (2018).

Other forms include:

Barnabana برنابا (Arabic, Persian)
Barnabas Բառնաբաս ബർണബാസ് (Armenian, Coptic, Dutch, English, Finnish, Frisian, German, Greek, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Scandinavian, Syriac, Welsh)
Bernaba (Basque)
Varnáva Варна́ва (Bulgarian)
Bernabé (Catalan, Portuguese, Spanish)
Barnaba ბარნაბა (Croatian, Georgian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian)
Barnabáš (Czech/Slovak)
Barnaby (English, Plattdeutsch)
Barnabé (French)
Balló (Hungarian)
Barna (Hungarian)
Barnabás (Hungarian)
Barnabà (Lombard)
Varnava Варнава (Macedonian, Serbian, Russian, Ukrainian)

An obscure Spanish feminine form is Bernabea.

Sources

Marcus, Mark

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Sebastiane

Il_Pordenone_-_San_Marco_-_Budapest

From one of the most common Roman praenomen, its origin and meaning is uncertain. A popular etymology is that it relates to Mars, others suggest it may be from the Etruscan Marce, which may come from mar (to harvest). It is said the name was originally bestowed on those who were born in March.

Marcellus and the name of the month of March likely shares the same etymological root.

It was borne by several notable Romans, including Mark Antony, Marcus Aurelius & Cicero.

It was the name of one of the Evangelists who authored the eponymous Gospel, known as St. Mark in the Christian world, he is revered as the founder of Christianity in Africa and is traditionally believed to have founded the Church in Alexandria. Coptic Christians hold him in high regard. His bones were smuggled out of Egypt in a barrel of pork fat by Venetian merchants from Alexandria when Egypt fell under Islamic rule and were transported back to Venice where they were eventually installed and dedicated in the Basilica of San Marco.

The name was borne by a 2nd-century pope as well.

Marcus, Mark and Marc have been quite popular in several countries. Marcus was in the U.S. Top 100 between 1970-2000, Sweden’s between 1998-2008, New Zealand’s between 2008-2014, England & Wales between 1996-2003, and in Denmark’s between 1994-2006. Currently, his rankings in other countries are as follows:

#54 (Canada, BC, 2018)
#87 (Australia, 2018)
#100 (Norway, 2018)
#209 (United States, 2018)
#213 (France, 2018)
#236 (England & Wales, 2018)
#406 (Netherlands, 2018)

Its latinate form of Marco, which started off as a mainly Italian form, became widespread across the continent. His rankings in the following countries are as follows:

#11 (Galicia, Spain, 2018)
#16 (Spain, 2018_
#23 (Italy, 2018)
#65 (Catalonia, Spain, 2018)
#81 (Portugal, 2018)
#358 (United States, 2018)
#436 (England & Wales, 2018)
#446 (France, 2018)

It’s English form of Mark appears in the legend of Tristan & Isolde as the name of the King of Cornwall, supposedly the name was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th-century, but became a hit by the Mid-1900s. Mark appeared in the U.S. Top 100 between 1944-2002, which is quite a long stretch. Mark peaked the highest in popularity between 1955-1970, peaking at #6, six years in a row between 1959-1964. Marks’s rankings in other countries are as follows:

#5 (Slovenia, 2018)
#6 (Moscow, Russia, 2018)
#21 (Hungary, 2018)
#83 (Ireland, 2018)
#210 (U.S., 2018)
#253 (England & Wales, 2018)
#298 (the Netherlands, 2018)

Marc is the French, Catalan & Welsh form and has been popularly used in the English-speaking world, it is currently the most popular male name in Catalonia, 2018 and between 1968-1976 it was in the U.S. Top 100. Marc’s rankings in the popularity charts are as follows

#26 (Spain, 2018)
#313 (France, 2018)
#825 (US, 2018)

Other forms of the name include:

Mark Марк (Albanian, Belarusian, Breton, Dutch, English, Maltese, Russian, Ukrainian)
Marḳos ማርቆስ (Amharic)
Marqus مَرْقُس‎ (Arabic, mainly used among Arab-Christians)
Marghos (Armenian)
Marko (Basque)
Marko Марко (Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Finnish, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovene, Ukrainian)
Markos Μαρκος Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ (Coptic, Greek)
Margh (Cornish)
Marcu (Corsican, Romanian)
Mokus (Croatian, Serbian)
Marek (Czech, Polish, Slovak)
Marco (Catalan, Dutch, Galician, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Marc (Catalan, French, Occitanian, Welsh)
Marcus (Dutch, English, German, French, Scandinavian)
Markus (Dutch, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, Frisian, German, Scandinavian)
Marghus (Estonian)
Markko, Markku (Finnish)
Marke (Finnish)
Marcas (Gaelic)
Marx (German, archaic)
Maleko (Hawaiian)
Márk (Hungarian)
Markús (Icelandic)
Marchino (Italian)
Marcolino (Italian)
Marcuccio (Italian)
Mareks (Latvian)
Marks (Latvian)
Markuss (Latvian)
Markas, Morkus (Lithuanian)
March (Lombard)
Markys (Manx)
Marquét (Poitvin, diminutive form)
Marcos (Portuguese, Spanish)
Kusi (Swiss-German diminutive form)
Marqōs ܡܪܩܘܣ‎ (Syriac)
Mår (Walloon)

It’s feminine forms include Marca but and sometimes Marcia was used as a feminine form, though it is more the feminine equivalent of Marcius.

Other feminine forms include:

Markusine (German, obscure)
Marchina (Italian)
Marcolina (Italian)
Marcuccia (Italian)

Sources

Rufus, Rufina

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Sebastiane

King William II

The name comes directly from the Latin word meaning “red-headed.” It was a common Roman cognomen and was borne by a man who is referenced in Romans 16:13 and another who is referenced in Mark 15:21. According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the aforementioned are one and the same person and is venerated as one of the Seventy Disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. He is also popularly believed to be the son of Simon of Cyrene.

The name is borne by several other saints.

It was the nickname of King William II of England, known as William Rufus III on account of his red-hair.

The name appeared in the U.S. Top 100 2 times, in 1880 & 1882, peaking at #88 in 1880. It remained in the Top 1000 1988.

In England & Wales, the name was the 264th Most Popular Male Name in 2018.

Rufus is used in Dutch, Czech, English, Finnish, German, Latvian, Polish & the Scandinavian languages.

Other forms include:

Rufit (Albanian)
R’owp’osy Ռուփոսյ (Armenian)
Rufess (Bavarian)
Ruf Руф (Bulgarian, Catalan, French, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian)
Roufaous (Coptic)
Rufinus (Dutch, German, Latin, Scandinavian)
Ruffe (Finnish)
Ruuhva, Ruuhvus (Finnish)
Ryffe, Ryyfys (Finnish)
Rufin (French, German, Polish)
Rhouphon Ροῦφον (Greek)
Rúfusz (Hungarian)
Ruffo (Italian)
Rufillo, Ruffillo (Italian)
Rufino (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Rufo (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Rufinus (Latin)
Rufas (Lithuanian)
Rupuha (Maori)
Rúfus (Slovak)

150px-Santa_Rufina Its feminine form of Rufina was borne by a couple of early saints, one of whom was from Seville, she was a pottery maker who refused to sell her wares for a pagan festival.

Feminine forms include

Roufina (Coptic)
Rufe (French)
Rufine (French)
Rufina Руфина (Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, Spanish)
Rufa (Italian)
Rufilla (Italian)

Sources

Legitimate Baby Names

names that are not made up and have had a history

Category Archives: Saints Names

Arianwen

Menas, Minas, Mina

Masuma

Prosper

Coral, Coralia

Wilfred

Amabel, Amabilis, Mabel

Barnabas, Barnaby, Barney

Marcus, Mark

Rufus, Rufina