I've always been fascinated by people's names. As a child, I found the "What to Name the Baby" book my mother had been given before I was born and I read it. Several times. This was partly because I wanted a different name from the one my parents had given me. (No, I'm NOT telling. I really don't want to use the "P word" in public, thank you.) I also made heavy use of the book while finding characters for the (unpublished) novels I had a great time writing.
Please note: I've used (M) for male names and (F) for female names.
Please note: I've used (M) for male names and (F) for female names.
Sites About Names
Some of these sites are about which names are the most popular, some sites are about what they mean. Some are about personal names, some about nicknames, and some are aboutlast names.
Most sites about first names are for parents picking baby names. Most sites about last names are for genealogists finding ancestors...or for people hunting for what their family name means.
Most sites about first names are for parents picking baby names. Most sites about last names are for genealogists finding ancestors...or for people hunting for what their family name means.
- Behind the Name
- Personal names from United States, England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and other places.
- Government Records
- This is a listing of United States government's records on which names were used the most in which year (or which decade) from from 1880s to 2000s.
- Surname Origin Sites
- This is a links page with links to pages telling about the typical surnames and how they came to be for Poland, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, China, and some specific surnames.
- Baby Names from India
- Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain names.
- More Baby Names from India
- Searchable database for Hindu, Muslim, Bengali, and Sikh names.
- Baby Names from India with Meanings
- This site is aimed at finding the spiritually appropriate name for the baby.
- Japanese Names
- This is an "About" page with many links and plenty of information.
- Japanese Name List
- List of Japanese names with meanings.
- Link to Arabic Names
- The sidebar on the left side of the page has links to both the masculine and feminine Arabic names.
- African Names
- The top of this page has links to Ethnic African, Afrocentric and African American names.
- More African Names
- Several lists of names.
- Asian names
- "Thousands of names for your dog, horse, cat, pet or child." Bhutanese, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laos, Malaysian, Mongolian, Nepalese, Filipino, Thai, Tibetan, Vietnamese, Orient Related. This is a page of links to hundreds of sites with names.
- Names for Your Pet
- Names for dogs, cats, ferrets, birds, fish, guinea pigs, hamsters, horses, lizards, mice, pigs, rabbits, rats, snakes, & turtles. The names are from all cultures and I recognized a number that are usually used for humans.
Great Stuff on Amazon
Just a few of the books about names that are out there. None of these are in the collection I have. (I think mine are probably out of print.) I get the impression that books on names come out and last about a decade or two until a slightly different collection of names is popular and then different books come out.
55,000 plus Baby Names: A great selection of popular and unusual names from around the world
Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2009) 
100,000 + Baby Names: The Most Complete Baby Name Book: Including 300+ Fascinating Lists, The Latest Naming Trends, Key to Gender-Neutral Names
Amazon Price: $9.32 (as of 12/04/2009)
The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby
Amazon Price: $9.35 (as of 12/04/2009)
The Hidden Truth of Your Name: A Complete Guide to First Names and What They Say About the Real You
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 12/04/2009)
Jewel Names
Given names based on jewels, gems, metals, jewelry.
- Amber (F)
- Amethyst (F)
- Argent (F) Means "silver"
- Aurelia (F) or Aurelius (M) Means "gold".
- Beryl (F)
- Cameo (F) A cameo is a small delicate carving worn as jewelry.
- Coral (F)
- Crystal(F)
- Diamond (M)
- Gemma (F)
- Goldie (F) Gold (M)
- Jade (F)
- Jaspar (M)
- Jewel (F)
- Opal (F) and sometimes (M)
- Pearl (F)
- Ruby (F) and sometimes (M)
- Silver (F)
- Stone, Stan (M) Meaning "a stone" or "a jewel"
- Topaz (F) & (M)
Flower & Plant Names
These are only a few (and the most obvious) of the given names based on flowers & plants. The list was too long otherwise!
- Acacia (F) & (M)
- Amaranth (F)
- Amaryllis (F)
- Anemone (F)
- Ash, Ashe (M)
- Azalea (F)
- Blossom (F)
- Calla (F)
- Clover (F)
- Daffodil (F)
- Daisy (F)
- Flora, Fleur (F) "a flower".
- Gardenia (F)
- Garland (F) & (M)
- Gladys (F) Named after the gladiolus.
- Hazel (F)
- Heath (F)or(M), Heather (F)
- Hibiscus (F)
- Holly (F)
- Hyacinth (F)& (M)
- Ivy (F)& (M)
- Jasmine (F)
- Lani, Leilani (F) Hawaiian flower names.
- Lilac (F)
- Lily (F)
- Lotus (F)
- Melissa (F)
- Minta (F) Based on "mint".
- Narcissa (F) Narcissus (M)
- Olive (F), Oliver (M)
- Pansy (F)
- Peony (F)
- Petunia (F)
- Poppy (F)
- Primrose (F)
- Rose (F)
- Rosebud (F)
- Rosemary (F)
- Rue (F)
- Saffron (F)
- Tansy (F)
- Thorn (F) & (M)
- Vine (F)
- Violet (F)
- Zinna (F)
Month Names
Given names based on one of the months of the year.
- April (F)
- May (F)
- June (F)
- Julius (M) Since Julius Caeser named July after himself, the name came first.
- August, Augustus, Augustine. (M) Augustus Caesar gave his name to the month of August, so the name came first in this case, also.
Name Toys
These sites are fun. Maybe useful, too.
- Japanese Name Generator
- This gives you a randomly selected name in Japanese based on your own name. Better yet, you can get code showing that name specific for HTML, MySpace, Windows Live Spaces, BBCode (for forums), Plain text (for email or IM), The FaceBook, Livejournal/Blogspot, or Yahoo 360/Xanga.
- US Surname Distribution
- Type in your surname (last name/family name) and up pops a map showing your name as 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000, or 1 in 10,000. Depending on how rare or common it is.
- Name Generators
- This site is intended for role play gamers and writers and has generators for everything "Evil Sounding Name Generator" to "Weird Name Generator". "Cat Namer", "Fantasy Names", "Vampire Names". I count about 40 generators for names of people and creatures, plus name generators for taverns, ships, realms and planets. "Trendy Names", "Princess Names", "Tree-Being Namer" Unfortunately the first time I found this page I got so caught up in it that I forgot to eat several meals...in a row.
- Work Nickname Generator
- In this one, you type in your own name and it tells you what your co-workers supposedly call you behind your back.
- Western Nickname Generator
- This one generates a nickname for your days as a gunfighter, cowboy/girl, or whatever in a very old fashioned Western town.
- Pirate Nicknames
- This is the pirate nicknames for ladies. There's a link on the page to go to the men's names.
Music Names
Given names based on music and musical terms. (This does NOT include ones based on popular musicans, which would be too long for this lens.)
- Cadenza (F)
- Calliope (F)
- Carol (F)
- Harmony (F)
- Horne (M) "a blower of horns"
- Melody (F)
- Musetta (F)
- Odelet (F) "a lyric song"
Number & Alphabet Names
Roman custom apparently numbered a few of the children. Later peoples continued some of this custom. Here's some of the "number" names used, including some based on the order of the Greek alphabet.
- Alpha (F)& (M) First letter of the Greek alphabet.
- Prima (F) Primo, Primus (M) Latin for "the first"
- Secundo (M) Latin for "the second"
- Tertius (M) Latin for "the third"
- Delta (F) The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.
- Quentin (M) Latin for "the fifth"
- Pentheus (M) Greek meaning "the fifth".
- Sextus (M) Latin for "the sixth"
- Septimus (M) Latin for "the seventh"
- Octavius (M), Octavia (F) Latin for "the eighth".
- Decius (M) Latin for "the tenth"
- Omega (F) The last letter of the Greek alphabet, means "the last".
Androgenous Names
Names that are used for both men and women.
This list is one I've been personally collecting for years. It all started as a kid when I thought how cool it would be to name all my children with androgenous names so that no one could tell by their name if they were male or female.
There's two basic types: those that are spelled the same for both genders, and those that are spelled differently but pronounced the same.
I also noticed that there are other ways people disguise their gender: by using initials, by using nicknames, by renaming themselves to androgenous names or to names for the other gender.
Oh, you'll notice a few of these "both" names in the other info lists in this lens...I did not repeat them here.
Please note: the useage for male and female are the ones I've come across both personally and in literature. It's possible that some variants listed as only male or only female might be used for both genders. If you know one I don't list, please note it in the feedback area above. Thanks!
There's two basic types: those that are spelled the same for both genders, and those that are spelled differently but pronounced the same.
I also noticed that there are other ways people disguise their gender: by using initials, by using nicknames, by renaming themselves to androgenous names or to names for the other gender.
Oh, you'll notice a few of these "both" names in the other info lists in this lens...I did not repeat them here.
Please note: the useage for male and female are the ones I've come across both personally and in literature. It's possible that some variants listed as only male or only female might be used for both genders. If you know one I don't list, please note it in the feedback area above. Thanks!
- Alex (M) & (F), Alyx (F)
- Alphie (F), Alphy (M)
- Billie (F), Billy (M)
- Bobby (M), Bobbie (M) & (F), Bobbi (F)
- Carmen (M) & (F)
- Carrie (F), Cary (M)
- Casey (M) & (F)
- Chris, Kris (M) & (F)
- Corey, Cory (M) & (F)
- Dale (M) & (F)
- Dana (M) & (F)
- Donny (M), Donni (F)
- Erin (F), Aaron (M)
- Evelyn (M) & (F)
- Fay (M), Faye (F)
- Frances (F), Francis (M)
- Joyce (M) & (F)
- Gabriel (M) & (F)
- Gay (M) & (F)
- George (M) & (F) (I first saw the female version of this in a Nancy Drew book.)
- Gerry (F), Jerry (M)
- Glenn, Glen (M) & (F)
- Jamie (M), Jaime (F)
- Jean (M) & (F), Gene (M)
- Jody (M) & (F)
- Joe (M), Jo (F)
- Kim (M) & (F)
- Kirk (M) & (F)
- Lee (M) & (F), Li (M) ("Li" is pronounced "Lee")
- Leslie (M) & (F)
- Lindsay (M) & (F)
- Lou (M) & (F), Lew (M)
- Marian (F), Marion (M)
- Mickey (M) & (F), Mickie (F)
- Morgan (M) & (F)
- Nicky (M) & (F) Nicki, Nikki (F)
- Penny (M) & (F) (Found the male version of this name in "The Yearling" by Marjorie Kinnen Rawlings.)
- Ray (M), Rae (F)
- Robin (M) & (F)
- Rowan (M) & (F) (British areas typically have Rowan as a man's name. The west coast of the USA typically has it as a woman's name.)
- Robby (M), Robbie (M) & (F), Robbi (F)
- Sandy (M) & (F)
- Scarlet (M), Scarlett (F)
- Stevie (M) & (F)
- Terry (M) & (F), Terri (F)
- Toni (F), Tony (M)
- Tracy, Tracey (M) & (F)
- Vivian (M) & (F)
- Willie, Willy (M) & (F), Willi (F)
