Nir is a masculine Hebrew name נְיָר meaning (meadow; grazing area). Alternately, it can be an acronym of the Hebrew phrase noled yeled rishon (meaning “first born son”).
Its feminine form is Nira.
Nira appeared in the U.S. top 1000 most popular female names one time in 1933, ranking in at #463.
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Oyinkansola Abayomi
The name is composed of the Yoruba elements oyin (honey), kán (drop) sí (into) & ọlá (wealth).
A common short form is Oyinkan.
A notable bearer was Nigerian feminist, Oyinkansola Abayomi (1897-1990).
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Safwan is an Arabic male name which is derived from the Arabic صَفْوَانٍ meaning “rock.” It is used in Quran verse 2:264: Such men are like a rock covered with earth: a shower falls upon it and leaves it hard and bare. (Quran 2:264). It also shares the same root with صاف؛ (cloudless).
The name was borne by 2 companions (sahabas) of the Prophet Muhammed, Safwan ibn Umayyah صفوان بن أمية) (died 661) and Ṣafwān ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal al-Sulamī (صفوان بن المعطل السلمي) (d. 638 or 679), the latter is attributed to founding the city of Safwan in Iraq.
A Turkish form is Safvan (Turkish) and it is sometimes transliterated as Safuan.
The feminine form is Safwana.
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By W.carter – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69918182
The name Varsha वर्षा is a Sanskrit female name meaning rain and refers to the varsha (rainy) season in the Hindu calendar.
The name is borne by Indian actress, Varsha Usgaonkar (b. 1968).
A masculine form is Varshan.
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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:
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Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “summer;” or “sword.”
Gender: Masculine
(Sah-eef)
The name can either be derived from the Arabic صَيْف (summer) or the Arabic سَيْف, (sword). The latter is believed to be a borrowing from the Greek xiphos or the Ancient Egyptian word sfet.
Saiph, traditionally pronounced (SAFE) in English, is also the name of the 6th brightest star in the Constellation of Orion. Saiph itself is a latinized form of the Arabic سَيْف, (sword). This form may make an interesting option for a celestial name.
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Origin: Sanskrit
Meaning: “sun.”
Gender: masculine
(AH-roosh)
The name comes directly from the Sanskrit आरुष (sun).
It first appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 in 2010 and in 2015 and fell off again. The highest it has ranked was in 2010 as the 900th most popular male name.
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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “sea; of the sea”
(mah-REE-nah); Fre (mah-REEN)
The name is borne by a very famous and legendary Middle Eastern Christian saint. Known as Saint Marina the Monk, or St. Marina of Bithynia, (also known as Mariam), legend has it that as a girl, her father disguised her as a boy and left her at a monastery to live with monks. She grew up among the monks, who always believed she was a boy, and she became a role model for the monastic community. She caught the eye of a local girl who, believing she was a man, tried to seduce her, when Marina refused the advances, the girl accused her of making her pregnant. The monastery banished Marina and she was forced to raise the child of the woman who had accused her of being the father. She raised the boy and the boy grew up to join the order and become a pious monk himself, but Marina continued to be ostracized by her former community. It wasn’t until she died that her true identity as a woman was revealed and the monastery realized that she could have never made the woman pregnant, and that the child was not her son. Since she continued to live in humility and raised the child as her own even when he was not, she was seen as a great suffering saint. Her feast is held on July 18th in the Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Catholic Church holds her feast on June 18th. Her cult is especially popular among marionite Lebanese Christians.
As a result, the name is fairly popular throughout the Christian Orthodox World, including Russia, Greece, Lebanon and Syria.
Other forms include:
Masculine form is Marinus.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “lion.”
Eng (LEE-oh)
The name comes directly from the Latin, leo, meaning, “lion.”
Its usage as a given name became popular among Christians after the ascent of Pope Saint Leo the Great (circ. 4th-century CE). It was borne by 12 other popes thereafter.
Leo was also a popular name among the Byzantine Emperors being borne by six.
Leo is also the name of a constellation as well as the 5th sign in the zodiac.
The highest Leo ever ranked in U.S. naming history was in 1903, coming in as the 37th most popular male name. As of 2011, he was the 167th most popular male name in the United States. His rankings in other countries are as follows:
Leo is used in about every European country. Other forms of the name include:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Persian نسرین
Meaning: “wild rose.”
(nahz-REEN)
The name comes from the Persian word for the wild rose, and is used throughout the former Persian Empire.
As of 2010, its Maghrebin form of Nesrine was the 248th most popular female name in France.
Other forms of the name include: