First Name Meanings

Names are an important part of our identity and it is important to know their meaning. It relates us to our name and if it means something good, which most of the time it does, it boosts our confidence and self-esteem. We eventually try to live up to our names. Here are the meanings of some common first names.

♦ Addison is a very common name for males. It means the son of Adam.
♦ Abigail is a common name for females and it has a biblical allusion behind it. It is taken from the Hebrew name 'Avigayil', which means 'my father is joy'. In the old testament of Bible, Abigail is the name of Nabal's wife. She becomes Davis's third wife after Nabal is killed.

♦ Catherine is a feminine name and the other variant for the same is Katherine. There are debates over the origin of this name, and it is this that it might have been derived from the Greek name 'Aikaterine' or 'Hekaterine' which means 'each of the two'.

The origin of the latter lies in Greek mythology related to Goddess Hecate or the Greek word 'aikia' menaing 'torture'. It can also mean the 'pure' and can be associated with Romans, who have a similar sounding word 'katharos' implying pure.

♦ Adelene is derived from 'Adele' and the usage of this name is mostly for girls. 'Adele' refers to Saint Adela, who was a princess but established a monastery at Pfazel in France.

♦ Barbara is a feminine name, derived from the Greek word 'barbaros'. 'Brabaros' means foreign. There is an allusion attached to this name as well according to which, Saint Barbara was a young woman who was killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightening. Saint Barbara is the patron of architects, geologists, and artillerymen.

♦ Florence is primarily a masculine name, but men also have such names though not seen very often. It is derived from the Roman name Florentine, which in Latin means 'prosperous and flourishing'.
♦ Isabella is a feminine name that is derived from the name 'Isabel'. It means the 'daughter of the king or lord'.

♦ Edward is a masculine name which means 'rich guard' and has its roots in the old English language in which, 'ead' meant 'rich and blessed' and 'weard' meant guard.
♦ Azure is a common and beautiful name for girls and it signifies the color 'sky blue'.

♦ Barney is a common name for men, derived from Barnabas or Bernard. It refers to 'son of the prophet' in Armaic. It has a Biblical allusion, which is Joseph, who accompanied Paul on most of his missionary journeys and was given the name Barnabas. The Bernard is taken from Germanic languages and it means 'bear' which implies 'someone brave and strong'.

♦ Davis is a popular masculine name, which is taken from the surname 'David'. David on the other hand refers to 'beloved' in Hebrew.
♦ Harold is a masculine name and it signifies 'the leader of the army'.
♦ Jane is a feminine name, which is derived form the masculine name 'John' implying graciousness.

♦ Another popular masculine name Barry is the anglicized form of the Irish name 'Bairre', which is the pet form of 'Fionnbharr', which in turn refers to 'someone who is fair-haired'. It is derived from the Gaelic word 'fionn', meaning white and fair; and 'barr' means head.

♦ Cameron is both a masculine and feminine name, which has English and Scottish origins. It is derived from a Scottish surname which means crooked nose, which is again taken from the Gaelic 'cam', meaning crooked and 'sron' implying nose. Camerons was also the name of a fighting tribe.