Geneva

Geneva is the name of a city in Switzerland as well as the name of several places in the U.S. The origin of the name is uncertain though it may be derived from Celtic genu meaning “bend, knee” or “mouth” referring to an estuary or a bending river, derived from a PIE root word. It’s also possible that…

Drago

Drago (pr. dra-go; Forvo) comes from a Slavic element meaning “precious, dear” via Proto-Slavic *dorgъ (dear, expensive; dear, lovable, precious) derived from a PIE root word. Drago (pronounced the same as above) is also the Italian form of Draco which comes from Latin meaning “dragon”, a Spanish word meaning “dragon tree”, though it’s also a Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan first-person singular…

Roxelana

Roxelana is probably most famously connected to Hurrem Sultan, the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent who ruled over the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. She was originally a slave and concubine but later became his wife, breaking tradition- sultans never married their concubines. She also became a close confident and advisor in all matters…

Ruslan

Ruslan is a shortened form of Yeruslan, a Slavic male name which comes from Tatar Uruslan which could be derved from Turkish arslan, aslan meaning “lion”. Yeruslan Lazarevich is the name of a Russian folk hero who seems to have been influenced by the Persian hero Rostem. Origin: Turkish Variants: Yeruslan (Russian) Uruslan (Tatar) Eruslan (Russian) Jeruslan (German)   Female forms: Ruslana…

Tansy

Tansy is the name of a flowering plant that has also been used as a medicinal herb. The name comes from French tanesie, an aphetic form of athanasie via Ancient Greek athanasia meaning “immortality”, made up from Greek negative prefix a- and thantos (death; corpse). Another possible meaning behind the name I’ve seen listed is that it comes from Vulgar…

Neo

Neo comes from the Ancient Greek prefix neo- meaning “new” via néos (new; fresh young; youthful) developed from a PIE root word. Neo is also a Latin word which is the second conjugation of netus meaning “weave; spin”; in Italian it means “mole; beauty spot; flaw, defect” which comes from Latin naevus (birthmark; mole). In Old English nēo means “corpse” via Proto-Germanic *nawiz (corpse)…

Zenobia

Zenobia is an Ancient Greek female name meaning “life of Zeus” or “Zeus is life”, made up of Zeno which derives from Zeus which derives from a PIE *dyḗws (sky, heaven; sky god) via root word *dyew- (to be bright; sky, heaven); and bios (life) though it’s possible that it could be related to bia meaning “strength, force, power; act of violence”, so…

Hakim

Hakim is an Arabic male name and title meaning “wise”, “prudence”, “sage” as an adjective and “sage”,  “physician”, “scholar”, “philosopher” as a noun. Hakim is also a surname originating from the given name. Origin: Arabic Variants: Hakeem (Arabic)   Hakim- حكيم (Arabic)  

Pamela

Pamela was first invented by English poet Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century. He may have based it on Greek elements pan meaning “all, whole”, the nominative singular form of pâs, and meli “honey; anything sweet”, essentially meaning “all sweetness”. Nicknames: Pam, Pammy/Pammie, Mela Origin: Proto-Indo-European Variants: Pamelia (English) Pamella (English) Pamila (English)  

Quigley

Quigley comes from an Irish surname, the anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coigligh meaning “descendant of Coigleach”, the latter originating as a nickname for someone who was an untidy person or someone who had long, unkempt hair. Origin: Proto-Indo-European Variants: Quickley (Irish)  

Aziza

Aziza is an Arabic female name, the feminine form of Aziz meaning “powerful, strong; mighty; precious; beloved, darling, dear”. I’ve also seen Aziza listed as being the name of a type of supernatural creature in African mythology, a type of fairy which are supposedly benevolent. I couldn’t find an origin behind the name, whether it has…

Abdulrahman

Abdulrahman (عبد الرحمٰن) is an Arabic male name meaning “servant of the merciful” made up of Arabic abd–ul عبد ال (servant of the) combined with rahman رحمن (merciful), Rahman being one of the 99 names of Allah in Islam. Rahman is also used as a given name on its own, or used as a nickname for…

Kelda

Kelda comes from Old Norse kelda meaning “a well, spring, fountain; bog, swamp” which seems to be derived from Proto-Germanic *kwellǭ (wellspring; spring; well) via a PIE root word. Kilda could be a variant spelling of it, but it’s also the name of an archipelago in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, known as St. Kilda. Though the etymology and meaning…

Badger

Badger refers to any of several carnivorous mammals which belongs to the Mustelidae family. It comes from Middle English bageard made up from bage (referring to a token or distinctive mark, sign, or emblem) of uncertain etymology though either from Anglo-Norman bage or Latin bagia (sign, emblem), perhaps named for the white mark on its forehead, combined with the suffix -ard….