Name Meanings: 100+ Cultures and Naming Traditions
What does your name really mean? Pick a culture or naming tradition below - each page explains the origin, history, and cultural context of any name you enter, with special attention to that tradition. Free, instant, no sign-up.
European Languages
Albanian Name MeaningBasque Name MeaningBelarusian Name MeaningBulgarian Name MeaningCeltic Name MeaningCroatian Name MeaningCzech Name MeaningDanish Name MeaningDutch Name MeaningEnglish Name MeaningEstonian Name MeaningFinnish Name MeaningFrench Name MeaningGalician Name MeaningGerman Name MeaningGreek Name MeaningHungarian Name MeaningIcelandic Name MeaningIrish Name MeaningItalian Name MeaningLithuanian Name MeaningNorwegian Name MeaningPolish Name MeaningPortuguese Name MeaningRomanian Name MeaningRussian Name MeaningScandinavian Name MeaningScottish Gaelic Name MeaningScottish Name MeaningSerbian Name MeaningSlavic Name MeaningSlovak Name MeaningSpanish Name MeaningSwedish Name MeaningSwiss Name MeaningUkrainian Name MeaningWelsh Name MeaningYiddish Name Meaning
Asian Languages
Chinese (Mandarin) Name MeaningJapanese Name MeaningKorean Name MeaningHindi Name MeaningBengali Name MeaningTamil Name MeaningGujarati Name MeaningNepali Name MeaningThai Name MeaningVietnamese Name MeaningIndonesian Name MeaningFilipino Name MeaningKazakh Name MeaningMongolian Name MeaningIndian Name MeaningPakistani Name MeaningUrdu Name MeaningPersian Name MeaningIranian Name MeaningGeorgian Name MeaningArmenian Name MeaningAzerbaijani Name MeaningTurkish Name Meaning
African & Middle Eastern Languages
Arabic Name MeaningHebrew Name MeaningJewish (Hebrew) Name MeaningAmharic Name MeaningEthiopian Name MeaningSwahili Name MeaningYoruba Name MeaningIgbo Name MeaningZulu Name MeaningNigerian Name MeaningAfrikaans Name MeaningAfrican Name MeaningWest African Name MeaningSouthern African Name MeaningCaucasian Name Meaning
Americas & Oceania Languages
African American Name MeaningApache Name MeaningNahuatl Name MeaningHawaiian Name MeaningMaori Name MeaningPolynesian Name MeaningBrazilian Portuguese Name MeaningMexican Spanish Name MeaningSouth American Spanish Name Meaning
Ancient & Historical Scripts
Ancient Egyptian Name MeaningAncient Celtic Name MeaningAncient Germanic Name MeaningAncient Roman Name MeaningMedieval Name MeaningEgyptian Hieroglyphics Name MeaningViking Runes Name MeaningCuneiform Name MeaningCeltic Ogham Name MeaningMayan Glyphs Name MeaningSanskrit Name Meaning
How Do Names Get Their Meaning?
Most names derive their meaning from a root word in their original language - often 'bright', 'strong', 'gift', or a virtue. Others honor religious or mythological figures, reference a place or occupation, or express a wish parents held for the child. As names travel across languages they pick up new spellings and associations, which is why the same name can carry different meanings in different cultures.
Meaning, Conversion, and Transliteration
This tool explains what a name means. If you'd rather get an authentic name in another culture, try our name converters; if you want to see your own name written in another script, try our name in different languages tool.