Baby Names by Meaning
Want a name that says something? Start from the idea (light, strength, love, the sea) and find names whose root words really mean it.
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What “meaning” means for a name
A name's meaning is the sense of the words it was built from, often in a language nobody speaks any more. Most English names reached us second-hand: Sophia is Greek for wisdom, Leo is Latin for lion, and Ethan is Hebrew for firm or enduring. The meaning rarely tells you how a name feels today, but it is the part of the name that carries a story you can pass on.
Be wary of meanings that sound too perfect. Popular baby books sometimes repeat invented or folk meanings. On NameRealm, disputed etymologies are labelled as uncertain on the name page.