Lunafreya

Lunafreya is a name I came across, the name of a protagonist in the Final Fantasy XV game and as far as I can find out, it seems to have first been created for the game. Although I’ve never played any of the games I’m pretty familiar with them and they are chock full of…

Noctis

Noctis is the name of the primary protagonist of the game Final Fantasy XV. Noctis is the genitive singular form of Latin nox meaning “night”. His full name is Noctis Lucis Caelum essentially meaning “sky of the night’s light” or “sky of the light’s night”. In Roman mythology, Nox is the personification of the night. Origin: Proto-Indo-European  

Melior

Melior is a female given name, a variant form of Meliora, which could come from Latin meliora meaning “ever better” or “always better”, the neuter plural form of Latin melior meaning “better” derived from PIE root word *mel- (strong, great). It’s also possible that the name is a corruption of Breton meler meaning “honey-maker” which derives from Latin mel (honey) via PIE root *mélit (honey). Melior…

Klement

Klement is the Czech and Slovak form of Late Latin Clemens meaning “merciful, lenient, gentle” which derives from a PIE root word. Klement is also a German surname originating from the given name. Origin: Proto-Indo-European Variants: Klemens (German, Danish, Swedish, Polish) Clement (English) Clemens (Late Roman, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) Kliment (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian) Klemen…

Lorinda

Lorinda is an English female name, an elaborated form of Lora, a variant spelling of Laura, the feminine form of Laurus, a Late Latin name meaning “laurel”. It derives from Ancient Greek daphne (laurel, bay), likely coming from a much older source; the letters changed from d- to l- due to a change in dialect. The laurel tree, in the language of flowers,  means ambition…

Baudelaire

Baudelaire comes from a French surname which comes from the name of a heavy dagger. It comes from Medieval Latin badelarius meaning “short sword”, a corruption of baselard/basilard which seems to come from German Basler messer, meaning Basler knife referring to a knife made in Basel, Germany.  

Clotilda

Clotilda is the English form of Clotilde, the French form of Germanic Chlotichilda meaning “famous battle” or “battle fame” made up from Germanic elements hlud (fame) and hild (battle). Origin: Proto-Indo-European Variants: Clotilde (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) Clothilde (French) Klotild (Hungarian) Clothildis (Latinized Ancient Germanic) Chlotichilda (Ancient Germanic)  

Asher

Asher comes from a Hebrew name meaning “happy, blessed”. Asher is also a surname, originating from the given name but as an English surname it’s a topographical name for someone who lived near an ash tree made up from Middle English asche (ash) combined with the habitational suffix -er. Nicknames: Ash Origin: Hebrew, Proto-Indo-European Variants: Aser (Biblical…

Cornelia

Cornelia is the feminine form of Cornelius, an Ancient Roman family name of uncertain etymology though often associated with Latin cornu meaning “horn” which ultimately derives from PIE root word *ḱerh₂- (horn; head, top) though it’s also possible that it derives from root *ḱer- (to grow, to nourish). Nicknames: Nell, Nelly, Nelia, Lia Origin: Proto-Indo-European Variants: Kornelia (German,…

Otto

Otto is a German male name which started out as a short form of names beginning with the German element aud meaning “wealth, fortune” via Proto-Germanic *audaz (wealth, riches). Otto is also a German, Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian, Danish, and English surname originating from the given name. Origin: Proto-Germanic Variants: Odo (Ancient Germanic) Audo (Ancient Germanic) Udo (German)…

Nancy

Nancy is an English female name which originated as a nickname for Annis (the Medieval English form of Agnes meaning “pure, chaste”) and Ann (a variant spelling of Anne meaning “favor” or “grace” from Hebrew). Nancy is also the name of a city in France, a shortened form of Nanciacum, a medieval Latin name. From what I could find out, the -(i)acum…

Ryan

Ryan comes from an Irish surname, a shortened form of O’Ryan which itself is the anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Riagháin (or Ó Riain) meaning “descendant of Rian”, a name of uncertain etymology though the most popular suggestion is that it is made up of Irish rí meaning “king” combined with a diminutive suffix, so the name essentially means…

Eretria, Eritrea

Eretria is the name of a town in Euboea, Greece, which was once an important polis (city) in Ancient Greece in the 6th/5th century BC. The name means “city of the rowers” made up from from Greek erétēs (rower) and the verb eressein/erettein “to row” ultimately derived from PIE root word *h₁reh₁- ~ *h₁erh₁- (to row), probably so named because…

Ardalion

Ardalion is a male given name of uncertain origin. It may derive from Greek ardalion, the name of a certain water vessel or cup, possibly derived from Ancient Greek árdō meaning “to water, to irrigate”. It seems to be a popular name in Russia, used by both Vladimir Nabokov and Fyodor Dostoevsky in their novels. I think part of that popularity…