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.
“Her head fell back, but she still wrapped her arms around me as if to hold me back.” Etching by Eugène Decisy [fr] after a watercolor by Paul Albert Laurens, 1904.
Origin: Occitanian
Meaning: uncertain
Gender: Female
Eng pron: (KLAIR-e-mund)
A Medieval Occitanian name first recorded in 12th-century French chivalric literature, Clarimond (also found as Clarimonde, Claramonde, or Claramunda) is either a diathemic compound of the Latin clārus (“bright, light, clear”) and the Old High German mund (“protection”), or derived from an Occitanian phrase meaning “bright world; clear world”
In the 12th-century chanson de geste, Huon de Bordeaux, the name appears in its earlier form as Esclarmonde borne by a Saracen princess who converts to Christianity and marries the hero Huon. Similar formations (Florimond, Rosamond, Alemond) were fashionable among the knightly and aristocratic classes of the High Middle Ages. The 1889 opera by Jules Massenet, Esclarmonde, is loosely based on the character from Huon de Bordeaux.
Historically, Esclarmonde and its variants were borne by at least four noblewomen of the House of Foix, the most famous being Esclarmonde de Foix (d. 1215), sister of Count Raymond-Roger de Foix, who was noted for her learning and association with the Cathar movement in southern France.
Though rare, Clarimond saw occasional use in 17th-century England, likely revived through renewed interest in medieval romance literature. Clarimonde was also occasionally found in 18th-19th-century Acadia, and was used by the closely related Cajuns in Louisiana.
In 1836, French writer Théophile Gautier reintroduced the name in his celebrated vampire novella La Morte Amoureuse (Clarimonde in French; The Beautiful Vampire in English). Gautier’s heroine—a sensual courtesan who blurs the line between life and death—cemented Clarimonde’s association with Gothic beauty, nocturnal allure, and eternal fascination, making it an especially fitting name for Halloween
Other forms include:
Esclarmonda (Catalan, Occitanian)
Clarimond (English)
Clarimonde (French)
Clarimunda (Late Latin, Spanish)
Esclarmonde (Old French)
Clarmonda (Occitanian)
Clarmontina (Occitanian)
Mondina (Occitanian)
Esclaramunda (Spanish)
Sources
Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950.
The name is composed of the Greek words, ἱερός (holy to; sacred to) and θεός (God). It first appears as a given name in Christian tradition, being borne by the first bishop of Athens who was said to have been converted and trained by St. Paul himself.
The modern Greek form is ‘Ierotheos and the designated name-day in Greece is September 29th.
The name has also been borne by several Greek patriarchs.
Derived from the ancient Greek male name Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), which in turn comes from πτόλεμος (ptólemos), meaning “war” or “battle.”
The word ptólemos is an older Aeolic dialectal form of πόλεμος (pólemos), the standard Classical Greek word for “war,” sharing the same root with the English word, “polemic.”
Ptolemy I Soter (367–283 BCE) was a general of Alexander the Great and later became Pharaoh of Egypt, founding the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323–30 BCE). This dynasty ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries and ended with Cleopatra VII, the most famous bearer of the family’s legacy.
Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) (2nd century CE) was the famed Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of Alexandria, whose Almagest shaped Western astronomy for over a millennium.
According to the Book of 1 Maccabees (135/4 BC), Ptolemy of Jericho betrayed his father-in-law, Simon the High Priest, by murdering him and his two sons while they slept as guests under his roof. This act of treachery is used in Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno, in which the ninth circle of Hell is called Ptolomea after him, a frozen realm reserved for those who betray their guests.
Ptolomy is also the name of an early Christian saint.
In the English-speaking world, Ptolomy has been used on and off since the 18th-century. It appeared in the U.K’s top 500 boys’ names in 2004, ranking in at #906.
A modern bearer is American author, Ptolemy Tompkins. Celebrity couple Gretchen Mol and Tod Williams bestowed this on their son in 2007.
Common English short forms include: Tollie, Tolly, and Tal.
The name Prosper comes from the Latin Prosperus, meaning “fortunate,” “successful,” or “prosperous.” It is derived from the Latin verb prōspere, “to cause to thrive, to be favorable,” ultimately from pro- (“forward”) and spēs (“hope”).
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390–455) was a Christian writer and theologian who defended the doctrines of Saint Augustine. His influence made Prosper a well-established saint’s name in medieval France, especially in Aquitaine and Provence.
In France, the name was relatively common at the turn of the 20th-century, ranking in at #96 in 1902. In the USA, it never ranked as high but did make it to the Top 1000, peaking at # 886 in 1881.
Several other early Christian saints and bishops also bore the name.
The most famous literary bearer is Prospero, the magician-duke in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611).
The Puritans occasionally used Prosper as well.
The designated name-days include: June 25th (Denmark & France), September 2nd (Croatia), June 23rd (Poland).
S.L. Uckelman. “Prospero”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Prospero.
The name is derived from the Roman gens name, Mamilius. Its meaning is uncertain. It may relate to the Latin mamilla meaning, “breast; nip; tit” or to mar, meaning “the shining one, splendid one.” It has also been linked with the Celtic mam (strength) and hil (seed).
The most notable bearer is Saint Mamilian of Palermo (San Mamiliano), a 5th-century bishop and martyr venerated in Sicily. The designated name-day is September 15, which on the island of Giglio, there is a yearly festival held in the saint’s honor.
The name is from the classical Greek, related toApollo. 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
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.
Bonaventure is the French and English form of the Medieval Italian male name, Bonaventura. It is ultimately made up of the Latin words, bonus “good” and venturas “the things that will come, the future.” A 13th-century Catholic Saint bore this name. He is considered a Doctor of the Church and known for authoring the biography of St. Francis of Assisi.
The name experienced widespread use throughout Catholic Europe until it fell out of use by the early 20th-century. It was the middle name of actor, Spencer Tracy (1900-1967).
The designated name-day is July 15th and September 11 in Croatia.
In recent years, it was the name of one of the ill-fated Lisbon sisters. This character appeared in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel, The Virgin Suicides (1993). She is referred to as “Bonnie,” for short.
J. Uckelman, S.L. Uckelman. “Bonaventure”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Bonaventure
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.
S.L. Uckelman. “Zenobia”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Zenobia.
S.L. Uckelman. “Zenobius”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Zenobius.
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.
