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Etymology & Meaning of Names

Name etymology is the study of the history of names and their meanings. Various fields such as philology, anthropology, and linguistics are used to infer the root words from which names are derived. Often, the root words can be traced back to ancient sources such as the Indo-European languages.

Etymology of Baby Boy Names

128 of the most common elements in baby boy names are compiled here. Name elements could be taken from place names, such as tun, religious elements like el and yahweh, popular attributes such as berht and hart, and militaristic terms like heri and fridu. The literal meaning of an element gives rise to the etymology or meaning of the derivative name. Click on the relevant boy name for more information. Page 1 - Displayed here are boy name elements 1 to 20

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tun - "town, settlement, homestead"
Old English origin - Alton, Ashton, Branton, Braxton, Brenton, Burton, Carlton, Clayton, Clifton, Clinton, Colton, Dalton, Dayton, Easton, Elton, Houston, Keaton, Kelton, Kenton, Milton, Peyton, Preston, Remington, Royston, Weston, Winston, Winton

el - "God, powerful"
Hebrew origin - Abdiel, Ariel, Azariah, Azriel, Daniel, Eli, Elias, Eliezer, Elijah, Elisha, Elkanah, Ezekiel, Gabriel, Ishmael, Israel, Joel, Lazarus, Manuel, Michael, Misael, Nathanael, Raphael, Samuel, Uriah, Uriel

hart - "brave, hardy"
Germanic origin - Bernard, Burkhard, Christhard, Diethard, Eckhard, Erhard, Everard, Gebhard, Gerard, Gotthard, Hardy, Hartmut, Hartwig, Leonard, Liebhard, Neidhard, Reynard, Richard, Sieghard, Volkhard, Wighard, Wilhard, Wolfhard

berht - "bright, famous"
Germanic origin - Albert, Bert, Berthold, Bertram, Bertrand, Dagobert, Eckbert, Engelbert, Filibert, Gilbert, Herbert, Hubert, Humbert, Kunibert, Lambert, Mombert, Norbert, Rigoberto, Robert, Siegbert, Wigbert, Wilbert

yahweh - "name of God"
Hebrew origin - Achaz, Elias, Elijah, Isaiah, Jacob, James, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Joachim, Joah, Joash, Joel, John, Jonathan, Josaphat, Joshua, Josiah, Matthias, Micah, Shawn, Tobias, Zachary

fridu - "peace, protection, safety"
Germanic origin - Arnfried, Bernfried, Erfried, Frederick, Friedemann, Friedhelm, Friedwart, Geoffrey, Gerfried, Godfrey, Hunfried, Manfred, Ottfried, Siegfried, Walfried, Wilfred, Winfred
Gothic origin - Ferdinand

meri - "great, famous"
Germanic origin - Adelmar, Dankmar, Dietmar, Helmer, Hildemar, Ingmar, Ottmar, Ramiro, Siegmar, Volkmar, Waldemar, Wilmer
Old English origin - Aylmer
Polish origin - Casimir
Slavonic origin - Dragomir, Miroslav, Vladimír

heri - "army, warrior"
Germanic origin - Adolar, Dieter, Erwin, Günther, Harald, Herbert, Herman, Herwig, Lothar, Luther, Oliver, Rayner, Volker, Walter, Werner

wine - "friend"
Germanic origin - Alwin, Baldwin, Erwin, Gerwin, Ortwin, Winfred
Old English origin - Alden, Alvin, Darwin, Edwin, Irwin, Melvin, Oswin, Winston

wulf - "wolf"
Germanic origin - Adolf, Gundolf, Ingolf, Landolf, Meinolf, Ralph, Randolph, Rudolph, Wolf, Wolfgang, Wolfhard, Wolfram
Old English origin - Beowulf

ric - "rich, powerful, ruler"
Celtic origin - Kendrick
Germanic origin - Alberich, Aubrey, Baldric, Emery, Emmerich, Frederick, Henry, Imre, Richard, Rigoberto, Roderick, Ulrich

wald - "to rule"
Germanic origin - Arnold, Berthold, Ewald, Gerald, Harald, Malte, Oswald, Reynold, Romuald, Waldemar, Walfried, Walo, Walter

leah - "wood, clearing, meadow"
Old English origin - Ashley, Bailey, Beverly, Bradley, Dudley, Harley, Lee, Presley, Ridley, Riley, Stanley, Wesley

ger - "spear"
English origin - Jarvis
Germanic origin - Gerald, Gerard, Gerfried, Gernot, Gerwig, Gerwin, Luitger, Notker, Roger
Old English origin - Gary
Old French origin - Gervaise

adal - "noble, honorable"
Germanic origin - Adalbero, Adelmar, Adolar, Adolf, Albert, Aldous, Alice, Alwin, Auberon
Gothic origin - Alfonso
Old English origin - Aylmer

slav - "fame, glory, Slav"
Slavonic origin - Borislav, Branislav, Bratislav, Dragoslav, Jaroslav, Miloslav, Miroslav, Stanislav, Tomislav, Vladislav, Wenceslas

bald - "bold, brave"
Germanic origin - Archibald, Baldric, Baldwin, Leopold, Radboud, Theobald, Ubaldo, Willibald, Wunibald
Old Norse origin - Balder

thor - "thunder, thunder god"
Old Norse origin - Dustin, Haldor, Thoralf, Thorben, Thorsten, Thorvald, Tor, Tord, Torgils
Scandinavian origin - Thore

mir - "peace"
Polish origin - Casimir
Slavonic origin - Dragomir, Jaromir, Kresimir, Miroslav, Tihomir, Vladimír, Zvonimir

dubh - "dark, black"
Celtic origin - Devin, Donovan, Dougal, Doyle, Duane, Dubhdara, Duff
Scottish origin - Douglas