Gender: Feminine
Origin: Germanic
Meaning: “Fighter/soldier for God.”
Pronunciation: (vee-YOH-nah)
Nicknames: Vi, Vija, Jona
Details: Formed from the combination of the Germanic/Norse vi meaning “holy, fighter” and from the Germanic jona, feminine form of John, derived from the Hebrew Yochanan meaning “god is gracious”.
For those of us who like Fiona, this could make a very unusual, alternative choice.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Scandinavian
Meaning: “Eagle tree.”
Pronunciation: (AR-vid)
Nicknames: Arvo, Aro, Arvi
Detail: From the Old Norse name Arnviðr, derived from the elements arn “eagle” and viðr “tree”.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Wandering soldier.”
Pronunciation: (goon-FIN-na)
Nicknames: Finna, Finn
Detail: From the Old Norse gunnr “battle, fight” and finnr “wanderer”
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Greek; Norse
Meaning: “Pure; Hen.”
Pronunciation: (KY-yah)
Details: Scandinavian diminutive of Katarina; from the Greek katharos meaning “Pure”.
It could also be derived from Old Norse kaða meaning “hen”.
3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Dutch
Meaning: “Little Dove.”
Pronunciation: (doo-VEE-kuh)
Nicknames: Duvi, Duva
Details: Means “little dove” in Middle Dutch, in modern Dutch duifje means “little dove”
2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norwegian
Meaning: “Descended from stone.”
Pronunciation: (peh-oo-LEE-veh)
Nicknames: Liv, Livi, Pilvi, Pelle, Ole, Olive
Detail: Combination of per, from the Greek petros “stone, rock”, and oliv, form of Olaf, from the Old Norse AnulaiƀaR meaning “ancestor’s descendent”
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Holy, blessed.”
Pronunciation: (OL-gah); (AWL-gah)
Nicknames: Oli, Ola, Olgi, Olya
Details: Russian form of Helga. From the from Old Norse name Helgi, derived from heilagr meaning “holy, blessed”.
The 10th-century Saint Olga was the wife of Igor I.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “Lily of the steppes.”
Pronunciation: (ar-oh-LEEL-yah)
Nicknames: Aro, Ari, Lilja, Lila, Lily
Detail: From the combination of aro meaning “steppes” (steppes are large areas of flat grassy land where there are no trees), and lilja meaning “lily”.
In a medieval, Norwegian ballad, Bendik falls in love with princess Arolilja. A boy tells the king that Bendik is seeing his daughter. Bendik’s punishment is death. Arolilja prays for him to no avail, he is hanged. She dies of heartache, and the king grieves. The two are buried on either side of a church, and up from their graves lilies grow and entwine above the church roof.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Summer traveller.”
Pronunciation: (SUM-er-led)
Nicknames: Som, Somer, Solid, Led
The name, a common one amongst the Vikings, means “summer traveller”.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “Day.”
Pronunciation: (PAHY-vah) Listen to it pronounced here: Paiva.
Detail: Finnish Goddess of the sun
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Elm tree.”
Pronunciation: (EM-blah)
Nicknames: Emb, Emmie
Detail: According to Norse mythology, the first humans were carved from trees by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve. They cut down an Ash tree and from it made the first man, Ask. From an elm tree they carved the first woman, Embla.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Icelandic
Meaning: “Fire lily.”
Pronunciation: (eld-LEEL-yah)
Nicknames: Elda, Eddie, Lilja, Lila, Lily
Detail: From the Old Norse elements eldr meaning “fire” and lilja “lily”
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Old Norse
Meaning: “Fair; Wanderer.”
Pronunciation: (fin)
Detail: Huckleberry Finn is the title character of the Mark Twain novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In the Prose Edda, Finn is of the lineage of Thor.
Male Variations:
Female Variations:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Swedish
Meaning: “Linnaea flower.”
Pronunciation: (lih-NEY-ah); (LIH-nee-ah)
Nicknames: Leah, Nea, Naya
Detail: From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower.
It was named by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Danish
Meaning: “Fight; War.”
Pronunciation: (VEE-go)
Nicknames: Vig
Detail: Viggo developed from the Old Danish name Vigge, containing the element vig meaning “fight, war”
Idun by Arthur Rackham
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Ever young; rejuvenator.”
Pronunciation: (EE-doon) [“oo” short like in “book”]
Detail: In Norse mythology Idunn is the goddess of spring and wife of Bragi. She is the keeper of the apples of the gods. Whoever eats of these apples will be granted eternal life and youth.
Variations:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: “Beloved lady; to love.”
Detail: Old Norse Frigg, Old Saxon Fri, and Old English Frig are derived from Germanic Frijjō. The root also appears in Old Saxon fri which means “beloved lady”, in Swedish as fria “to propose for marriage” and in Icelandic as frjá which means “to love.”
TGIF TFIF (Thank Frigg It’s Friday!) 😉
Yes, Friday came from the Old English frīgedæg, meaning the day of Frigg. In most Germanic languages the day is named after Freyja, such as Frīatag (Old High German), Freitag (Modern German), Freyjudagr (Old Norse), Vrijdag (Dutch), Fredag (Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish)—but Freyja and Frigg are frequently identified with each other.
Frigg is a major Norse goddess, queen of Asgard (Norse God Headquarters). Frigg appears mainly in mythological stories as wife of Odin and a mother of Baldur. She is also has the power of foresight, yet she never reveals what she knows to anyone.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Germanic
Meaning: “Of the ash tree.”
Pronunciation: (ahsk)
Detail: From the Germanic element ask meaning “ash-tree”
According to Norse mythology, the first humans were carved from trees by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve. They cut down an Ash tree and from it made the first man, Ask. From an elm tree they carved the first woman, Embla.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Czech / Gaelic Meaning: “Rock.”
Origin: French Meaning: “Bird; Hazelnut.”
Origin: Greek Meaning: “Bright one; shining one; defender of men.”
Pronunciation: (ah-LEY-nah)
Nicknames: Ala, Ali, Lena, Leni
Detail: Saint Alena was a Belgian martyr.
Variations:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norse
Meaning: Debated “Skull; future.”
Pronunciation: (SKOO-lah)
Nicknames: Sku, Suki
Detail: One suggestion is that it is derived from Old Norse, there are a few possibilities: From the word skàli, meaning hut or shed, or from scala, meaning skull.
The Character of Names 