Wednesday, October 26, 2011

X Marks the Spot

Like J & K, Xs are relatively rare in English words, and so they're memorable & eye-catching. Unlike J & K, however, it's hard to find (or adapt) acceptable names containing X. One small problem is that X's pronunciation varies greatly from language to language. But, if you don't mind correcting people, there are quite a few fun X names out there.

Boys:
  • Ajax (AY-jaks, Greek)
  • Anxo (AN-shah, Galician)--form of Angel
  • Axel (AKS-el, German, Scandinavian)--form of Absolom
  • Dax (DAKS, English)--from Old English Dæcca, "day"
  • Dexter (DEKS-ster, English)
  • Felix (FEE-liks or FEHL-iks, Latin)--"lucky"
  • Ganix (JAHN-eesh, Basque)--form of John
  • Lennox (LEN-oks, Scottish)
  • Mannix (MAN-niks, Irish)--Anglicized from either Mainchin or Mag Aonghuis
  • Ximun (SHEE-mun, Basque)--form of Simon

Girls:
  • Arantxa (ah-RANT-shah, Basque)
  • Axelle (aks-EL-leh, French)--feminine of Axel
  • Beatrix (BEE-ah-triks, or BEH-ah-triks, Latin)--"traveller"
  • Eudoxia (yu-DOKS-ee-ah, Greek)--"good fame" 
  • Itxaro (eet-SHAH-roh, Basque)--"hope"
  • Ixchel (ee-SHEL, Mayan)--Mayan goddess of the earth, medicine, and the moon
  • Meritxell (mur-eet-CHEL, Catalan)--"midday"
  • Polyxena (pol-ih-KSEE-ah, Greek)--"much hospitality"
  • Roxelana (roks-el-AH-nah, Turkish)
  • Ruxandra (rewks-AN-drah, Romanian)--form of Roxana, "dawn"
  • Uxia (oo-SHEE-ah, Basque)--form of Eugenia
  • Xanthe (ZAN-theh or ZAN-thee, Greek)
  • Xenia (KSEN-ya or ZEN-ee-ah, Greek)
  • Xiomara (see-oh-MAHR-ah, Spanish)
  • Xoana (shoh-AW-nah, Galician)--form of John

Either!:
  • Alexis (ah-LEKS-ish, Greek)--"defender"
  • Calix (CAHL-iks, Latin)
  • Lux (LEWKS, Latin)--"light"
  • Pax (PAKS, Latin)--"peace"
  • Phoenix (FEE-niks, Greek)
  • Xuan (sooun, Vietnamese)--"spring"
  • Xue (shooeh, Chinese)--"snow" or "learning"
  • Xun (shooen, Chinese)--"fast, sudden"

2 comments:

  1. Just wanted to correct your pronunciation of Xuân. In Vietnamese, 'x' is pronounced like an English 's,' not 'sh.' Xuân is best approximated as 'sooun' using your phonetic system.

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