Meaning: “to light; to burn; to kindle; divider; judge; host of a feast.”
Gender: Male
Modern Greek: Daitor (DYE-tore)
Eng pron: DAY-tor
The name is derived from the Greek δαίω (daio) meaning, “to light; to burn; to kindle,” and “to divide, share, tear” or “to host a feast.” The element has the same meaning as distributing justice, items or food.”
It is borne in the Illiad by a minor character, a Trojan warrior who attacked the Greek fleet during the tenth year of the Trojan war and was subsequently shot dead.
Meaning: “fire; flame;” also a diminutive form of Urban
Gender: Male
Usage: Finnish
Pron: (PAH-noo)
The name began as a Finnish diminutive form of the Latin name Urban. The name took on new significance in the 19th century, when Finnish national romanticism reinterpreted Panu through its resemblance to the native word panu, meaning “fire” or “flame.”
In Finnish folklore and epic poetry, Panu appears as the spirit or personification of fire, particularly in the mythological corpus connected to the Kalevala.
The name’s modern popularity was reinforced by Juhani Aho’s 1897 historical novel Panu, which centers on the clash between Christianity and ancient Finnish paganism. In Aho’s novel, the protagonist Panu is the last pagan priest defending the old faith. The book was highly influential in the Finnish national revival movement and helped cement Panu as a culturally resonant personal name.
The designated name-day in Finland is November 11.
The name comes directly from the Latvian word meaning, “rascal, mischievous; lively man.” The word itself may be connected to the Old Polish ogier (stallion), or the Estonian oja (stream). The Polish ogier – stallion – rascal, seems more likely.
It likely came into use thanks to the Latvian eponymous short story, Ojārs (1892) by Ānsis Lerhis-Puškaitis. It was first recorded as a given-name in Riga in 1903, inducted into the Latvian name-day calendar in 1908, and started to experience relative popularity between the 1920s-1970s.
Notable bearers include, Latvian sculptor, Ojārs Arvīds Feldbergs (b. 1947); Latvian singer, Ojārs Grīnbergs (1942-2016); Latvian politician, Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš (1949-2021); and Latvian author, Ojārs Vācietis (1933-1983).
The designated name-day is November 11th.
Source
Siliņš, Kārlis. Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Rīga: Avots, 1990.
A poetic rarity, it is from the ancient Greek λαλαγέω (lalageo) meaning “to babble; to prattle.”
The most famous bearer of the name appears in Horace’s Odes (Book I, 22), in which it is the name of the poet’s idealized beloved.
Edgar Allan Poe later used Lalage as a tragic heroine in his 1835 play Politian, reinforcing its Romantic aura.
The name experienced some usage in the 19th-century throughout the English-speaking world. A notable bearer is British educator and feminist, Lalage Brown (b. 1927).
A name forever haunted by legend and scripture, Ichabod carries an aura of solemnity and old-world eeriness. Though seldom used today, its deep Biblical roots and literary afterlife make it a quintessential Halloween name with legitimate historical pedigree.
The name appears in the Old Testament (Hebrew: אִי־כָבוֹד, ’I-Kavod), meaning “no glory” or “the glory has departed.” It is first recorded in 1 Samuel 4:21, where Phinehas’s wife, upon hearing of the Ark of the Covenant’s capture and her husband’s death, names her newborn son Ichabod to mark Israel’s loss of divine favor.
In the English-speaking world, the name came into use in the 17th-century, mainly among Puritan families.
In colonial America, one of the best-known bearers was Reverend Ichabod Wiswall (1637–1700) of Massachusetts.
The name’s haunting reputation was sealed by Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Its lanky, superstitious schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, pursued by the Headless Horseman, transformed the Biblical lament into a symbol of American Gothic folklore.
Irving is believed to have drawn the name from a real historical figure, Colonel Ichabod Bennett Crane (1787–1857), an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps whom the author reportedly met while stationed at Fort Pike, New York. The coincidence of name and temperament lent the fictional character an extra layer of realism — and ensured that Ichabod would forever echo through ghostly New England legend.
It is borne by several other famous early American personages,
Traditional short forms in the 18th-19th centuries were Cabe, Bud, and Buddy.
The name appears in Greek mythology. It is connected to a woman who killed herself when her love for Demophon was not returned. She was transformed into an almond or hazelnut tree, depending on the legend. It comes directly from the Greek word, Φυλλίς, meaning, “leaves, foliage,” which shares a root with the words chlorophyll and phyllotaxis. Its Turkish form of Filiz comes from the same root but the meaning slightly changes to “sprout; root.”
It also appears as the name of a minor river god of Bithynia.
It came into widespread use in England in the 16th-century and later spread to the rest of the Anglosphere.
Early Puritan records occasionally include Phyllis/Phillis, reflecting classical learning even among settlers. Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), the first published African-American female poet, is a striking historical bearer.
An 18th-century English short form was Lissie or Lissy.
It frequently appears in Elizabethan and Restoration poetry and drama. Poets such as Ben Jonson and Andrew Marvell used “Phyllis” as a stock name for a beloved in pastoral verse. Later modernists like Ezra Pound continued this tradition. This usage helped keep it familiar to English speakers for centuries.
It marked its presence in baroque operas (e.g., Handel’s Acis and Galatea includes a character named Phyllis) and in folk songs of the British Isles.
Victorian painters of the Pre-Raphaelite school sometimes chose the Phyllis and Demophon story for mythological canvases.
In the United States, it appeared in the Top 100 Female Names between 1915-1958, peaking at #24 in 1929. In the U.K., it came in at #14 in 1914, #4 in New Zealand in 1911, and #29 in 1922 in Canada.
Its Turkish offshoot of Filiz appeared in the Turkish Top 100 between 1980-1996, peaking at #11 between 1980-1982.
Today, the name is considered dated in the English-speaking world.
Phillyda, pronounced /ˈfɪl.ɪ.də/ in English is an alternate form.
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 of uncertain meaning, it is possibly a feminine form of the Welsh male name, Lleu (bright, light), or composed of the Welsh element, lleu (bright; light) and cu (dear), or derived from the Welsh lleuad (moon).
It is the name of a heroine in the 14th-century Welsh poem by Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen, Marwnad Lleucu Llwyd, it is said to have been written for his deceased lover of the same name.
The name is derived from the Svan term meaning “of Mary,” referring to the Virgin Mary as in the case of the church name in Svaneti უშგულის ლამარია (Ushgulis Lamaria). Lamara is the name of a 1928 Georgian play by Grigol Robakidze.
Lamaria ლამარია is also the name of a Svan folk goddess of fertility, cattle, the hearth and women. Her name is most likely influenced by the Christian Virgin Mary and it is unknown if the goddess is a synchronized folk saint or if the name was changed after Christianity was introduced into the area.
Both names have recently become prevalent in Chechnya & Kazakhstan.
It is borne by Georgian soprano Lamara Chqonia (b. 1930).
In the United States, it is sometimes used as a feminine form of Lamar.
The name comes directly from the Farsi word کیمیا (kimia), which originally had a connotation of something rare or unique but later came to form the base word and concept of alchemy. It appears in Persian literature, starting in the 10th-century (CE).
Another spelling is Kimya.
Among the Persian diaspora in Western countries, the name is often shortened to Kim.
Alternately, Kimiya can also be a Japanese male name that changes meaning, depending on the kanji used.
