New Surname Names :: H

Inspiration :: Hollis (art by James Hollis)

Halsey

Origin: English

Meaning: Habitation Name

Similar Names: Elsie, Ashley, Hallie.

Hann

Origin: English

Meaning: Variation of a Medieval name

Features: 

Similar Names: Anne, Hannah, Hans.

Harran

Origin: English

Meaning: Nickname for a tall, thin person

Similar Names: Aaron, Hayden, Holden.

Harriot

Origin: French

Meaning: Variation of the name Henri.

Features: A alternative formal version of Harry.

Similar Names: Harriet, Harry, Hetty.

Hart

Origin: English

Meaning: Stag

Features:

Similar Names: 

Hasel

Origin: English

Meaning: Hazel tree

Features: Hazel is seen as such a girl name that Hasel could be a compromise for boys.

Similar Names: Hazel, Rowan, Hayes.

Heikkilä

Origin: Finnish

Meaning: Nickname for Henry

Features: Exotic and pretty.

Helyn

Origin: English

Meaning: Person from Hayling

Features: Familiar sounds. It modernises Helen.

Similar Names: Helen, Ellen, Celyn.

Hendra

Origin: Cornish

Meaning: Habitation name

Features: Sounds heathery and wild.

Similar Names: Alexandra, Henry.

Henley

Origin: English

Meaning: Habitation name

Features: Similar to Henry but with but of expensive flair. Also a place name.

Similar Names: Henderson, Henry.

Hermida

Origin: Spanish

Meaning: Hermit

Features: A Hermione alternative for those who are not a fan of the Harry Potter links.

Similar Names: Hermione.

Herriot

Origin: English and French

Meaning: Variation of Henry

Features: It links to the famous vet James Herriot and could be a good choice for those in the veterinary profession.

Similar Names: Harry, Harriet.

Hilse

Origin: German

Meaning: Lives near a holly tree

Features:

Similar Names: Elise, Elsa.

Halliday

Origin:

Meaning:

Features:

Similar Names:

Hollis

Origin: English

Meaning: Lives near holly trees.

Features: A cool-person name with lots of energy. 

Similar Names: Holly, Holiday, 

Houston

Origin: Scottish

Meaning: Habitation name

Features: Place name, word name and surname name - a hat trick of features.

Similar Names: Camden, Austin.

New Surname Names :: G

Inspiration :: Gardiner (art by Jeremy Gardiner)

Gable

Origin: French

Meaning: Feature of architecture.

Features: A word name that doesn't sound too wordy. Also contains 'able' which is a positive sound to most ears. 

Galera

Origin: Spanish and Catalan

Meaning: Sailor/Shipbuilder

Features: Pretty name with a meaning that could be used for honouring a friend or family member.

Galiana

Origin: Spanish and Catalan

Meaning: Rooster

Similar Names: Julianna, Eliana.

Garcia

Origin: Spanish

Meaning: Bear

Similar Names: Darcy, Cynthia, Grace.

Gardiner

Origin: English

Meaning: Occupational name

Features: Occupational name with a nature twist.

Garland

Origin: English

Meaning: Maker of Garlands

Features: Beautiful, occupational meaning with a gender-neutral air.

Gildea

Origin: Irish

Meaning: Servant of God

Features: Exotic sounding with

Gioiella

Origin: Italian

Meaning: Joy

Features: Frilly with a lovely meaning and the option of the nickname Ella.

Similar Names: Ella, Joelle, Joy, Giulia

Gren

Origin: Swedish

Meaning: Branch

Features: Good meaning, simple name. Unfussy but not too light.

New Surname Names :: F

Inspiration :: Farren (painting by David Farren)

Farren

Origin: English

Meaning: Occupational name for an oxherd

Features: Neutral sounds and fits in the popular two-syllable, -n ending surnames.

Similar Names: Darren, Aaron, Mason, Soren.

Feehally

Origin: Liverpudlian

Meaning: Variation of Fitzhenry

Features: Sounds Irish, energetic and friendly.

Similar Names: Rafferty, Flannery.

Fennell

Origin: English

Meaning: Grower or seller of fennell

Features: Nature name, occupational name with the option of the nickname Nell.

Similar Names: Merrill, Fern, Nell.

Fiala

Origin: Czech

Meaning: Violet

Features: Beautiful meaning, unusual with familar sounds.

Similar Names: Viola, Fenella, Nuala.

Fiorelle

Origin: French

Meaning: Little flower

Features: Pretty with lots of French flair.

Similar Names: Elle, Flora, Isabelle.

Flinn

Origin: Irish

Meaning: Reddish

Features: Has similarities to Finn but looks less flimsy than Flynn. It would make a really cool girls' name.

Similar Names: Finn, Flynn, Sloan. 

Foy

Origin: French

Meaning: Faith

Features: Simplicity in one syllable.

Similar Names: Faith, Roy, Fay.

Freidis

Origin: Jewish

Meaning: Joy

Features: Lovely meaning, unusual ending.

Similar Names: Freya, Frida, Phyllis.

From Surname to First Name :: A

Inspiration :: Arco

Surnames as first names are one of the biggest naming fashions at the moment. Think Mason and Sloane or Tierney. Some we forget that they were ever surnames like Donovan. But even with this trend, there are many undiscovered surnames that would fit in fine with the many children named Oliver and Joshua. Spanish and Italian surnames make great girly-girl names and there are many English and Scottish surnames which would create a fine name for a son. Another bonus to surname names is that they are not gender specific – which works very well for those who are conscious about stereotypical genders of names.

Below are some surnames beginning with A that are already in usage as first names but are still quite unusual:

Below are some surname beginning with A that are very rare for first names:

Abry     

Origin: French

Meaning: Shelter

Gender: Unisex

Unisex sounding with a hint of natural ruggedness. Doesn’t sound like a nickname but has the benefit of being short and simple. Could be used as an unusual alternative to Abby or as a diminutive of Abry.

Aliaga 

Origin: Spanish

Meaning: Person who lives in a place overgrown with gorse.   

Gender: Feminine

Feels like a merge of Agnes and Alana. Ali is familiar enough so that the exotic –aga ending doesn’t feel too weird.

Allegri 

Origin: Italian    

Meaning: Quick/lively  

Gender: Unisex

Allegro still feels stuck on sheet music. Allegra is starting to become popular for girls. Allegri has a historical yet fresh sounding, cheery feel.

               

Almeida             

Origin: Portuguese

Meaning: Place Name  

Gender: Feminine

A name that will fit in with popular girls’ names at the moment like Amelia but feels more distinctive. Alma or Mei could be good nicknames.

Alvey   

Origin: English  

Meaning: Form of Alfwy             

Gender: Unisex

Alvey does feel more like a nickname than a full name but some may argue that the extra ‘e’ makes it more substantial. It could be a good diminutive for Alfred.

               

Amiranda                                          

Origin: Spanish

Meaning: Woundrous/lovely

Gender: Feminine

This name seems to have so much strength but is also terrically feminine. She feels like a more unusual alternative to Matilda and of course Miranda. She also has the popular Am– prefix seen in name-nerd favourites Amabel and Amaryllis.

Antilla 

Origin: Finnish  

Meaning: Place Name  

Gender: Feminine         

A hint of Scandi fashion and the familiar three syllable, -a ending girls’ name style. The t adds strength and the An– prefix opens the door to many nickname options such as Annie.

Arco

Origin: Italian and Spanish          

Meaning: Bowmaker    

Gender: Masculine but could also be a brave choice for girls.

A mix of the trendy -o ending with an occupational name, a word name and a nod to the world of music. This name ticks so many boxes.

Ardes

Origin: Scottish

Meaning : Place Name 

Gender: Masculine but could also be a brave choice for girls.

This name feels like it would never stand out (but they would never be Ardes L or Ardes E in class because of its rarity)

               

Arrietta

Origin: Basque

Meaning: Place Name  

Gender: Feminine

If Arrietty is too ‘Borrower’ for you. A perkier alternative to Harriet I think.

New Names

Inspiration: Mariposa (the Spanish word for butterfly)

I study the English language as part of my education and I am realising parallels between this and the world of names. I have been studying neologisms (new words) and how they are created and I thought I might pick out a few processes that apply to names as well as words. I highlighted the problem of how to create new names in my posts on the journeys of andrognous names and this may start explaining this.

Loan Words
Or should we call them 'loan names'? These are names we borrow from different languages. Think of Eleni, Giovanna, Xavier or Matthias. Many names are loan names but have become so mainstream that we have forgotten this. Henry comes from the French name Henri but has gone through a slight orthographical change (a change in spelling). Many diminutives-turned-standalone-names like Bella or Lottie were originally loan names. You can find loan words of your own by browsing the top 100 lists from other countries. It is very useful if you can understand enough of a foreign language to pick out names from international baby naming forums because you can find some hidden gems that speakers of English have never heard before.

Here are some beautiful names I found from the Turkish top 100 in 2012:
Zehra, Meryem, Rabia, Esma, Ceylin, Esila, Miray, Aylin.
Eren, Ismail, Kaan, Berkay, Ensar, Onur.


Compounding
Compound words are made up of two other words. Like wind+mill= windmill, Annabelle, Annmarie or Marybeth are compound names. Some names can seem like they are compounds but are just normal names. Elizabeth seems to come from Eliza and Beth but I think they have only become standalone names after being used as nicknames. Liliana is another example. Lil is a name. Liana is a name. But Liliana is not a compound name.

Here are some plausible compound names:
Maudlily, Liluna, Islamy, Leahlina, Evelisa, Elizabella.


Conversion
Usually conversion is where a word changes its grammatical function such as changing from a noun into a verb. Just think of how we use Google as verb (like 'I'm just going to Google this') But maybe conversion in names is little different. Maybe conversion means changing from what we think of as a 'word' into a 'name'. Word names have become very popular. Flower and jewel names (like Pearl and Rose) were popular historically but recently we have been picking from a wider vocabulary especially in celebrity culture. We have North, Saint, Ever and Apple. We often combine loan names and word names (use word names in different languages) like Soleil or Beau. If a word has a desirable meaning (such as love or beauty or happiness) then it is more likely to become popular.

Here are some words from Spanish that could become names:
Vivir, Almendra, Milagro, Mariposa, Lluvia.


Affixation
Affixes are collections of letters that are added onto the beginning or end of a word. Like 'Dis-' can be added to make 'disrespectful', 'disallow' or 'dishonest'. Sometimes affixes can get confused with compounding as they are very similar.  The line between affixation and compounding seems to be quite blurred in the world of names.

Some affixes include -anna, -bel, -lyn and -a. It is harder to find prefixes like Leo- (as in Leonore or Leocadia) but they do exist. Marilyn, Caitlyn and Jocelyn are good examples of the use of an affix.


Blending
Many of the processes I have explained are more relevant to frilly, elaborate girls' names but blending is definitely also for the boys. Think Aiden, Kayden, Jaden, Hayden. Think... Blending is all about changing a very small part of an existing name. Of course, some blends sound better than others. From Taylor, you could have Naylor, Saylor or even Haylor. But when I use Traylor, it sounds awfully like 'trailer' and Jaylor sounds awfully like 'jailer'. You have to be very careful!

Here are some blended names that might be usable:
Mackson (from Jackson), Trentley (from Bentley), Browan (from Rowan)