B is for...

BARRY
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Irish, English

Pronounced: BAR-ee, BER-ee

Anglicized form of the Irish name Bairre, which is a diminutive of FIONNBHARR which means "fair hair", derived from Gaelic fionn "white, fair" and barr "head". Saint Fionnbharr of Cork was a 6th-century bishop who supposedly performed miraculous cures. The Barry Islands off Wales were named for him. It is also used as an Anglicized form of BEARACH,which is derived from Gaelic biorach meaning "sharp". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish saint.

BENJAMIN
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Biblical

Pronounced: BEN-jə-min (English), ben-zha-MEN (French), BEN-yah-meen (German)

From the Hebrew name בִנְיָמִין (Binyamin) which means "son of the south" or "son of the right hand". Benjamin in the Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. He was originally named בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-'oniy) meaning "son of my sorrow" by his mother Rachel, who died shortly after childbirth, but it was later changed by his father.
As an English name, Benjamin came into general use after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.


BERNARDO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese

Pronounced: ber-NAHR-do (Italian, Spanish) [key]

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of BERNARD, which is derived from the Germanic element bern "bear" combined with hard "brave, hardy". It was brought by the Normans to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Beornheard. This was the name of several saints, including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Another famous bearer was George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), an Irish playwright and essayist.


BILLY
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BIL-ee [key]

Diminutive of BILL, a short hand of WILLIAM from the Germanic name Wilhelm, which was composed of the elements wil "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection". Saint William of Gellone was an 8th-century cousin of Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England. It was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia.
Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero. In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997). A notable bearer was the American outlaw Billy the Kid (1859-1881), whose real name was William H. Bonney.



Bira




BLAKE
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BLAYK

From a surname which was derived from Old English blæc "black" or blāc "pale". A famous bearer of the surname was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).


Boddy

BRAD
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BRAD
Short form of BRADLEY, BRADFORD, and other names beginning with Brad.

Branci


BRENO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Portuguese

Portuguese form of BRENNUS, which is a Latinized form of a Celtic name (or title) that possibly meant either "king, prince" or "raven". Brennus was a Gallic leader of the 4th-century BC who attacked and sacked Rome.


BRENT
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BRENT

From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, derived from a Celtic word meaning "hill".

BRETT
Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BRET

From a Middle English surname meaning "a Breton", referring to an inhabitant of Brittany.



BRIAN
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Irish, English

Pronounced: BRIE-ən

The meaning of this name is not known for certain but it is possibly related to the old Celtic element bre meaning "hill", or by extension "high, noble". It was borne by the semi-legendary Irish king Brian Boru, who thwarted Viking attempts to conquer Ireland in the 11th century. He was slain in the Battle of Clontarf, though his forces were decisively victorious. The name was common in Ireland before his time, and even more so afterwards. It came into use in England in the Middle Ages, introduced by Breton settlers. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.


Broc

BROCK
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: BRAHK [key]

From a surname which was derived from Old English brocc meaning "badger".


BRUNO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French

Pronounced: BROO-no (German)

Means "brown" from Germanic. Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition.

"A" Updated

Aaron

AARON
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Biblical

Pronounced: AR-ən (English), ER-ən (English

From the Hebrew name אַהֲרֹן ('Aharon) which is most likely of unknown Egyptian origin. Other theories claim a Hebrew derivation, and suggest meanings such as "high mountain" or "exalted". In the Old Testament this name was borne by the older brother of Moses and the first high priest of the Israelites. He acted as a spokesman for his brother, and carried a miraculous rod. As an English name, Aaron has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.

Adam

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Jewish, Arabic, Biblical

Other Scripts: אָדָם (Hebrew), Адам (Russian, Ukrainian), آدم (Arabic)

Pronounced: A-dəm (English), AH-dahm (German, Dutch, Polish), ah-DAHM (Russian)

This is the Hebrew word for "man". It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew אדם ('adam) meaning "to be red", referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from Assyrian adamu meaning "to make". According to Genesis in the Old Testament Adam was created from the earth by God (there is a word play on Hebrew אֲדָמָה ('adamah) "earth"). He and Eve were supposedly the first humans, living happily in the Garden of Eden until Adam ate a forbidden fruit given to him by Eve.
As an English Christian name, Adam has been common since the Middle Ages, and it received a boost after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).


Adriana

ADRIANA
Gender: Feminine

Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, English

Pronounced: ahd-RYAH-nah (Italian, Spanish), ahd-RYAHN-ah (Polish), ayd-ree-AN-ə (English)

Feminine form of ADRIAN

Adriano

ADRIANO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Italian, Portuguese

Italian and Portuguese form of ADRIAN

ADRIAN
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Romanian, Polish, German, Russian

Other Scripts: Адриан (Russian)

Pronounced: AY-dree-ən (English), AHD-ryahn (Polish), AH-dree-ahn (German), ah-dree-AHN (Russian)

Form of Hadrianus. Several saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it was not popular until modern times.

Akihiro

Consisting of the characters 昭 (luminous, bright) 大 (great, large).

Alan

ALAN
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Scottish, Breton

Pronounced: AL-ən (English)

The meaning of this name is not known for certain, though it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries. This was the name of several dukes of Brittany, and it was introduced to England by Breton settlers after the Norman conquest. Famous modern bearers include Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the first American in space and the fifth man to walk on the moon, and Alan Turing (1912-1954), a British mathematician and computer scientist.


Alberto

ALBERTO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese

Pronounced: ahl-BER-to (Italian, Spanish)

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of ALBERT

ALBERT
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French, Slovene, Polish, Russian, Dutch

Other Scripts: Альберт (Russian)

Pronounced: AL-bərt (English), al-BER (French), AHL-bert (Polish), AHL-bərt (Dutch)

From the Germanic name Adalbrecht, which was composed of the elements adal "noble" and beraht "bright". This name was common among medieval German royalty. It was introduced by the Normans to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Æðelbeorht. Though it became rare in England by the 17th century, it was repopularized in the 19th century by the German-born Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.
This name was borne by two 20th-century kings of Belgium. Other famous bearers include the German physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955), creator of the theory of relativity, and Albert Camus (1913-1960), a French-Algerian writer and philosopher.





Alex

ALEX
Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English, Dutch

Pronounced: AL-əks (English), AH-ləks (Dutch)

Short form of ALEXANDER, ALEXANDRA, and other names beginning with Alex.


Alexander/Alexandra

ALEXANDRA
Gender: Feminine

Usage: German, Scandinavian, Dutch, English, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak, Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology

Other Scripts: Αλεξανδρα (Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: ah-lek-SAHN-drah (German), ah-luk-SAHN-drah (Dutch), al-əg-ZAN-drə (English)

Feminine form of ALEXANDER. In Greek mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess Hera, and an alternate name of Cassandra. It was also borne by the wife of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name Alix, but was renamed Alexandra upon joining the Russian Church.

ALEXANDER
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovak, Greek Mythology (Latinized)

Pronounced: al-əg-ZAN-dər (English), ah-lek-SAHN-der (German), ah-luk-SAHN-dur (Dutch)

Latinized form of the Greek name Αλεξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek αλεξω (alexo) "to defend, help" and ανηρ (aner) "man" (genitive ανδρος). In Greek mythology this was another name of the hero Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, King of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.


Alonso

ALONSO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Spanish

Pronounced: ah-LON-so

Spanish variant of ALFONSO

ALFONSO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Spanish, Italian

Pronounced: ahl-FON-so (Spanish), ahl-FAWN-so (Italian) [key]

Spanish and Italian form of a Visigothic Germanic name, probably meaning "noble and ready", from the element adal "noble" combined with funs "ready". Other theories claim the first element is ala "all", hadu "struggle" or hild "battle" (see ILDEFONSO). It is possible that two or more names merged into a single form. This was the name of six kings of Portugal and kings of several ancient regions of Spain.


Andrea
ANDREA (2)
Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, German, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Scandinavian

Pronounced: AN-dree-ə (English), an-DRAY-ə (English), ahn-DRE-ah (German)

Feminine form of ANDREW. As an English name, it has been used since the 17th century, though it was not common until the 20th century.


Andrew

ANDREW
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Biblical

Pronounced: AN-droo (English)

From the Greek name Ανδρεας (Andreas), which was derived from ανηρ (aner) "man" (genitive ανδρος (andros) "of a man"). In the New Testament the apostle Andrew, the first disciple to join Jesus, was the brother of Simon Peter. According to tradition, he later preached in the Black Sea region, with some legends saying he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Andrew, being a Greek name, was probably only a nickname or a translation of his real Hebrew name, which is not known.
This name has been common (in various spellings) throughout the Christian world, and it became very popular in the Middle Ages. Saint Andrew is regarded as the patron of Scotland, Russia, Greece and Romania. The name has been borne by three kings of Hungary, American president Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), and, more recently, English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-).


Anton

ANTON
Gender: Masculine

Usage: German, Russian, Scandinavian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Slovene, Romanian

Other Scripts: Антон (Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian)

Pronounced: AHN-tawn (German), ahn-TON (Russian)

Form of Antonius.

Antonio

ANTONIO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Spanish, Italian

Pronounced: ahn-TO-nyo [key]

Spanish and Italian form of Antonius. A famous bearer was the Renaissance painter Antonio Pisanello.

ANTHONY
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: AN-thə-nee, AN-tə-nee

English form of the Roman family name Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin. The most notable member of the Roman family was the general Marcus Antonius (called Mark Antony in English), who for a period in the 1st century BC ruled the Roman Empire jointly with Augustus. When their relationship turned sour, he and his mistress Cleopatra were attacked and forced to commit suicide, as related in Shakespeare's tragedy 'Antony and Cleopatra' (1606).
The name became regularly used in the Christian world due to the fame of Saint Anthony the Great, a 3rd-century Egyptian hermit who founded Christian monasticism. Its popularity was reinforced in the Middle Ages by the 13th-century Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of Portugal. In English it has been commonly (but incorrectly) associated with Greek ανθος (anthos) "flower", which resulted in the addition of the h in the 17th century.


Arpad

ÁRPÁD
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Hungarian

Pronounced: AHR-pahd

Means "seed" in Hungarian. This is the name of a Hungarian national hero, a 9th-century prince who led the Magyars into Hungary.


Arturo

ARTURO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Italian, Spanish

Pronounced: ahr-TOO-ro

Italian and Spanish form of ARTHUR

ARTHUR
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French, German, Welsh Mythology

Pronounced: AHR-thər (English), ar-TUYR (French)

The meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from British art "bear" combined with viros "man", or it could be related to Irish art "stone". Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name Artorius. Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who presided over the knights of the Round Table. He may or may not have been a real person.
The name came into general use in England in the Middle Ages due to the prevalence of Arthurian romances, and it enjoyed a surge of popularity in the 19th century. Famous bearers include German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), mystery author and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (1917-).


Aurelio
AURELIO
Gender: Masculine

Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese

Pronounced: ow-RE-lyo (Spanish)

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of AURELIUS, a Roman family name which was derived from Latin aureus "golden, gilded". Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and philosophical writer. This was also the name of several early saints.


Austin

AUSTIN
Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: AWS-tin

Medieval contracted form of AUGUSTINE. Modern use of the name is probably also partly inspired by the common surname Austin, which is of the same origin. This is also the name of a city in Texas.