Kamiyah

Kamiyah is an African-American female name, a modern name which seems to be a combination of the name Maya with the ka- prefix. Maya has several meanings and etymologies such as “illusion” from Sanskrit; “water” from Hebrew; as well as being the name of the Mayan civilization, which seems to have been derived from Mayapan,…

Morven

Morven is a variant of Morvern, the name of a peninsula and district in western Scotland. It’s the anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic A’ Mhorbhairne meaning “the big gap”, made up from Scottish Gaelic mòr (big, large, great) and beàrn (gap; space, opening; notch). However, I’ve seen other sites list the first element as meaning…

Gesander

Gesander is the name of a figure in Greek mythology, a Scythian warrior and a prince of the Iazyges, an ancient Sarmatian (or possibly Scythian) tribe that eventually settled in what is now modern Ukraine. In Greek mythology Gesander kills one of the Argonauts, Canthus, when they were in Colchis which was the destination of…

Tiamat

Tiamat is the name of a Mesopotamian goddess, the personification of the sea and associated with the chaos of primordial creation. She is the mother of the younger gods with Abzu, the god of fresh groundwater while she was associated with sea water. In later stories of the myth she is depicted as a female…

Abzu

Abzu is the name of an ancient Mesopotamian god of fresh water, especially underground water, and was the lover of Tiamat, who fathered the younger gods with her. Abzu was later murdered by the younger gods when he tried to kill them. Abzu is made of Sumerian ab 𒀊 “sea” and zu 𒍪 “deep, depths”….

Sanderling

Sanderling is the name of a small wading bird, Calidris alba, that breeds in the Arctic and migrates south in the fall, gathering along beaches and estuaries. The birds are typically pale during winter, being a grayish color on top with a blackish mark on the shoulder, and white underneath. In the summer, its feathers…

Cheryl

Cheryl is an English female name of uncertain etymology. It could be an elaborated form of Cherie, which comes from French chérie, a word meaning “darling, sweetheart”, perhaps inspired by the Beryl spelling; it’s also possible Cheryl is a combination of Cherry (meaning “cherry”) and Beryl. It’s also possible that Cheryl may have arisen as a variant…

Brent

Brent comes from an English surname, a habitational name from any of the villages in Devon and Somerset. It comes from Old English brant “steep, high, tall”, referring to the hills around them, of uncertain etymology though possibly from a PIE root word. Brent could also be used as a nickname for Brenton, also another…

Ahenobarbus

Ahenobarbus comes from a Roman cognomen meaning “copper beard” or “bronze beard”, made up of Latin aēnus (copper, bronze) < Proto-Italic *aeznos (brazen, made up of bronze) via PIE *áyos (a metal, copper, bronze); and barba (beard), also from a PIE root word. It was the name of several consuls of the late Roman Republic….

Richmal

Richmal is an English female name which seems to have originated in the early eighteenth century, primarily in Bury, Lancashire, though the exact origin and meaning behind the name is uncertain. It could be a combination of Richard and Mall or Mally, the later a variant of Molly, itself a diminutive of Mary which ultimately…

Laken

Laken is a modern American name, an elaboration of Lake meaning, obviously, “lake”. It descends from Old English lacu (pool, pond; expanse of water; lake) which ultimately derives from PIE root word *leg- (to leak). Laken (also spelled Laeken) is also the name of a Belgian municipality near Brussels, derived from Proto-West Germanic *laku (stream;…

Edison

Edison comes from an English surname, a matronymic name meaning “son of Eda”, Eda being the medieval English diminutive of Edith, made up of Old English elements ead (wealth, fortune) and gyð (war). In some cases it could also be a patronymic surname meaning “son of Edward” or any names beginning with Ed-. I’ve also seen it listed as…

Lansing

Lansing comes from a Dutch surname, a patronymic name from given name Lans, the Dutch form of Germanic Lanzo via Proto-Germanic *landą (land) derived from PIE root word *lendʰ- (land, heath). Origin: Proto-Indo-European Meaning: “land” Usage: English Variants:

Edsel

Edsel is an English variant of Etzel, the German form of Attila, the name of the king of the Huns in the 5th century (the Huns being an ancient Nomadic people spread across central Europe), who was feared by the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. In the Nibelungenlied (a Germanic epic poem), there is a fictionalized version…