Monday, August 22, 2016

"Boyish" Girl Names

Thanks at least partially to Latin, girls are seriously lacking in ending-letter diversity. Girls have the majority of -a, e, y, ah, and i, but all the rest are more common for boys! Some aren't noticeably more common, but many definitely are: -ch, k, b, o, p, c, f, sh, d, m, x......

So, for this post, I thought I'd track down girls' names that have "boyish" endings (with special consideration for names that also have significantly more "boyish" beginning letters as well: W, U, J, & D).

  • Brigid (BRIJ-id, English; BREED, Irish)--also spelled Brid or Brighid
  • Brónach (BROH-nakh, Irish)
  • Callisto (kah-LIS-toh, [ancient] Greek)--"most beautiful" [masculine in Italian]
  • Caridad (kah-ree-DAHD, Spanish)--form of Charity
  • Carmo (KAHR-moh, Portuguese)--from Hebrew, "garden"
  • Cleo (KLEE-oh, English)--from Greek, "glory". Also spelled Clio
  • Dagmar (DAHK-mar, German; DAHG-mar, Scandinavian)--from Germanic, "day maiden"
  • Deitlind (DEET-lint, German)--from Germanic, "gentle people"
  • Derehild (DEHR-eh-hild, Old English)--prob. "precious battle" or "beast battle"
  • Diamanto (dee-ah-MAHN-toh, Greek)--"diamond"
  • Dido (DEE-doh, DYE-doh, Latin)
  • Ellisif (EL-lis-eef, Scandinavian)--form of Elizabeth. Also spelled Elisif or Ellisiv (EL-lis-eev). 
  • Fedelm (FEH-delm, Irish [mythology])--poss. from Old Irish, "constant"
  • Hero (HEER-oh, [ancient] Greek)--Modern form is Iro (EER-oh).
  • Kinborough (KIN-bur-roh, [medieval] English)--"royal fortress"
  • Ingrid (EEN-grid, English, German, Scandinavian)--from Old Norse, "beautiful Ing"
  • Isfrid (EES-frid, Scandinavian)--from Old Norse, poss. "beautiful ice"
  • Jochebed (JAHK-ah-bed, YAHK-ah-bed, [Biblical] Hebrew)--"Yahweh is glory"
  • Jorund (YOHR-oond, Norwegian)--from Old Norse, "horse love" or "chief love"
  • Juno (JOO-noh, Latin)
  • Leto (LEE-toh, [ancient] Greek)--poss. "gentle" or "forgotten"
  • Lilach (lee-LAHKH, Hebrew)--"lilac"
  • Lilias (LIL-ee-as, Scottish)--form of Lily. Also spelled Lillias
  • Liv (LEEV, Scandinavian; LIV, English)--from Old Norse, "protection"
  • Loreto (loh-REH-toh, Italian, Spanish)--prob. from Latin, "laurel"
  • Luned (LIN-ed, Welsh)
  • Nahid (nah-HEED, Persian)--form of Anahita, poss. "pure". Also spelled Naheed
  • Neus (NEH-oos, Catalan)--"snow"
  • Pallas (PAL-las, [ancient] Greek)--poss. "maiden" or "spear". [unisex]
  • Ravid (rah-VEED, Hebrew)--"necklace"
  • Ríonach (REE-ah-nahkh, Irish)--"queen". Feminine of Rían/Ryan.
  • Rocío (roh-SEE-oh, Spanish)--"dew"
  • Rosalind (RAHZ-ah-lind, English)--from Germanic "gentle horse"
  • Rosamund (ROHZ-ah-mund, RAHZ-ah-mund, English)--"horse protection"
  • Solfrid (SOHL-frid, Scandinavian)--"beautiful house" or "beautiful sun"
  • Timo (TEE-moh, [ancient] Greek)--prob. "honored" [masculine in other languages]
  • Turid (TOOR-eed, Norwegian)--from Old Norse, "beautiful Thor"
  • Waltraud (VAHL-trowt, German)--from Germanic, "strong ruler" or "foreign strength"
  • Winifred (WIN-ah-fred, English)--anglicized from Welsh Gwenfrewi "blessed peace"
  • Xeno (KSEN-oh, ZEE-noh, [ancient] Greek)--"foreign"
  • Yanick (YAH-neek, French)--form of John/Jane. Also spelled Yannick. [unisex]

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