Names from around the world

General Name Discussion
1

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone!

This semester I’m on an exchange program in [name_u]Paris[/name_u] and heve used my free time here to travel around Europe. I’ve met a lot of people in my travels from many different countries and I thought it would be interesting to share some of the names here. Since I’m originally from [name_u]Brazil[/name_u], you’re going to find a lot of names from there in the list. :smiley: I tried to provide pronunciations on the names I thought would give the most trouble (but I’m sure they’re not 100% accurate since the owners of these names got tired of trying to teach me the correct pronunciations some times and just let me call them whatever I had understood).

So, here it is, first girl names, then boy names, separated by country:

ALGERIA
Amel (ah-[name_u]MEL[/name_u])

  • x-
    Fuède (Foo-EHD)

[name_u]BRAZIL[/name_u]
[name_f]Bruna[/name_f]
[name_f]Carolina[/name_f] x2
[name_f]Danielle[/name_f]
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f]
Júlia
[name_f]Juliana[/name_f]
[name_f]Marcela[/name_f]
[name_f]Maria[/name_f] Letícia
[name_f]Mariana[/name_f]
[name_u]Nat[/name_u]ália (me)
[name_m]Ol[/name_m]ívia
[name_f]Yasmin[/name_f]

  • x-
    ”lvaro
    [name_m]Lucas[/name_m]
    [name_m]Francisco[/name_m] [name_m]Jos[/name_m]é nn [name_m]Franz[/name_m]é

CAMEROON
[name_u]Bryce[/name_u]

[name_f]CHINA[/name_f]
Yulin

[name_f]COLOMBIA[/name_f]
[name_f]Diana[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorena[/name_f]

ECUADOR
[name_f]Fanny[/name_f]

[name_f]FRANCE[/name_f]
[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Laure[/name_f]
[name_f]Cindy[/name_f]
Dahbia
[name_f]Magali[/name_f]
[name_f]Sandra[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Johann[/name_m]
    Loïc
    [name_m]Karim[/name_m]
    [name_m]Mustafa[/name_m]

GERMANY
[name_f]Christina[/name_f]
[name_f]Tina[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Johannes[/name_m]

GREECE
[name_f]Regina[/name_f]
Stavroula (Sta-VROO-lah)

HUNGARY
[name_f]Eszter[/name_f]

[name_f]ITALY[/name_f]
[name_f]Alessandra[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Giuseppe[/name_m]
    [name_u]Luca[/name_u]

MEXICO
Arisbe (ah-RIS-beh)
[name_f]Elvira[/name_f]

[name_u]MOROCCO[/name_u]
[name_u]Ali[/name_u]
[name_m]Samu[/name_m]

[name_u]PERU[/name_u]
Danitza

PORTUGAL
[name_f]Anita[/name_f]
[name_f]Marta[/name_f]

[name_f]RUSSIA[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Daria[/name_f] x2 (one of them nn [name_f]Dasha[/name_f])

  • x-
    [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Alex[/name_u] and NOT [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] - he was very insistent about it hehe)

SLOVENIA
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
Polona

SPAIN
Gara
[name_f]Laia[/name_f]
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f] x2

  • x-
    [name_f]Amine[/name_f]
    [name_m]Jorge[/name_m]

SWITZERLAND
[name_f]Marie[/name_f] Hélène
[name_f]Rahel[/name_f]

THAILAND
Southini

TURKEY
Büşra ([name_m]BUSH[/name_m]-ra)
Cansu (KAHN-tso)

  • x-
    Serkan

USA
[name_f]Dina[/name_f]
[name_u]Robin[/name_u]

  • x-
    [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m]

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you know any interesting names from different cultures you’d like to share? What do you think of these names?
P.S. These people are all in their 20s/ University students

2

There are some great names there! It’s fascinating to see what people in other nations are using. I had never heard Arisbe before, but I see that it’s Greek - surprising to find on a woman from Mexico!

I also did an exchange program in [name_u]Paris[/name_u] years ago. My host “parents’” names were [name_u]Jean[/name_u]-[name_m]Paul[/name_m] and Régine, and their daughter was Marylène.

3

So fun! Going from [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] to [name_u]Paris[/name_u] must be quite a change, eh? Haha
I did a year abroad in Spain and then moved to the Basque Country after I graduated, it’s always lovely to meet someone else who’s gone travelling :slight_smile:

I really like:
[name_f]Bruna[/name_f] (I love [name_m]Bruno[/name_m], and Brunonia, so why not [name_f]Bruna[/name_f]?)
[name_f]Carolina[/name_f] (so pretty!)
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f] (this used to be my favourite name!)
”lvaro
[name_f]Magali[/name_f] <3
Yohann
Loïc (I can appreciate it, but it isn’t really my style)
Johannes (I LOVE this!)
Eszter (so pretty)
Alessandra (I know an Alessandra from Italy, too. It’s a great name!)
Luca (I also know like, 12 guys named Luca from Italy, haha)
Ali (I like this on a boy)
Marta
Helena
Laia (love this!)
lol I met an Amine in Spain during my year abroad, but he was from Algeria.
(Marie) Hélène (my grade 1 teacher’s name was Hélène, and I’ve always thought it was pretty)

Some people I’ve met over the last few years:

Germany:
Madeleine
Daniel
Till
Simon
Killian (he’s German-Irish lol)

Iceland:
Kristinn (m; my legal name with a different spelling, so that was interesting lol)

Italy:
Sergio
Gianluca
Dalila (DA-lee-la)

Spain:
Alba
Laura
Natalia
Susana
Nuria

Finland:
Kaisa
Joanna

Basque Country:
Most of the people I know from my living overseas are Basque, so that’s a super long list, but these are some of my faves-
Aitzol, Ametz, Beñat, Ekhi, Eneko, Gorka, Ibai, Iker, Imanol, Julen, Unai, Unax
Ainara, Eider, Enara, Itsasne, Itsaso, Kattalin, Leire, Miren, Olaia, Uxoa

France:
Sophie
Carole

Argentina:
Federico
Leo
Bruno
Pablo

Russia:
Ludmila
Ekaterina

4

Achei que era a única brasileira aqui! ahaha
[name_u]Paris[/name_u] é maravilhoso, e os nomes franceses são lindos!
Eu amo [name_f]Ana[/name_f]ïs, mas é o tipo de nome que não dá pra usar no [name_m]Brasil[/name_m] né? ahhaa

I love how people see [name_f]Isadora[/name_f] as such an exotic name, but in [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] it’s really common. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t know why, though.
From your list I find the turkish names the most interesting! They have such a charming accent and a charming way to pronounce their names!

I really like some of the basque names [name_f]Lucia[/name_f] posted!
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you say Beñat, [name_f]Leire[/name_f] and Aitzol?

5

When I was in france my host-girl’s name was [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Amandine[/name_f] (ah-mahn-deen) and she had a friend I hung out with a lot named Léa (lay-uh). I’m not the biggest fan of [name_f]Amandine[/name_f], but I much prefer lay-uh over the lee-uh that we use over here. I heard a ton of really awesome names over there, I wish I could remember more of them. I tended to like the pronunciations better over there than here, but, I mean, it’s french vs english haha.

I also remember have a girl names [name_f]Pilar[/name_f] (pee-lar) (nn [name_u]Pili[/name_u] (pee-lee)) at school from a south american country. I feel bad that I don’t remember which, but I didn’t know her well. I’m under the impression that that’s fairly common though, just not here.

6

@esrever88: It is really interesting to see how a name can travel around the world. Though I supose greek and latin names are the most universal ones (I once met a [name_f]Natalia[/name_f] from South Korea, I was really shocked). [name_f]Love[/name_f] the name Régine! It’s one I would use since one of my mom’s names is [name_f]Regina[/name_f]. Brazilians would kill the pronunciation though.

@lucialucentum: It is really different, I can tell you! Especially the weather! I left a winter in [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] to come to a (much, much colder) winter in [name_u]Paris[/name_u]. I miss the sun :frowning: I love Spain! My grandmother was from there, but form the Andalucía region. My favorites from your list are:
[name_m]Till[/name_m] (boy or girl? or is it a nn?)
[name_f]Dalila[/name_f] (though in [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] it would be pronounced Da-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-la)
[name_f]Susana[/name_f] (really middle-aged in [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] though :()
[name_m]Imanol[/name_m]
[name_m]Julen[/name_m]
Eider
Enara
[name_f]Miren[/name_f]
[name_f]Ludmila[/name_f]
[name_f]Ekaterina[/name_f]

@carolinemchd: hahaha os brasileiros estão em toda parte, não se pode fugir deles. [name_u]Paris[/name_u] realmente é lindo e os nomes também! Pena que no [name_m]Brasil[/name_m] as pessoas iriam acabar com a pronúncia. [name_f]Ana[/name_f]ïs é lindo, tantos nomes maravilhosos arruinados por associações com outras palavras.
I know what you mean about [name_f]Isadora[/name_f], I know at least 4 haha. I really love the turkish names! Especially Serkan (swoon).

@ferntailwp: I think everything sounds preetier in french. Such a beautiful language. I know a [name_f]Pilar[/name_f] who was born in [name_f]Argentina[/name_f], but I think it’s a name common to most spanish speaking countries.

Tonight I’m going to [name_u]London[/name_u], maybe I’ll meet more people with interesting names!

7

[name_f]Pilar[/name_f] is so lovely! I have an spanish aunt named [name_f]Pilar[/name_f], but her nickname is [name_m]Pio[/name_m] (peeoh)! When I was a kid I thought this was the coolest name/nickname combination ever! Still love it! It’s a pretty common name in spanish-speaking countries, but it’s still very distinctive imo.

It’s not very common in [name_m]Brasil[/name_m], but it’s familiar and not unheard of. I once met a little girl named [name_f]Pilar[/name_f], but she had no nicknames and it fit her to a T.

[name_f]Pilar[/name_f] is number 86 in Portugal!

And [name_u]Nat[/name_u]ália, keep letting us know the lovely names you find in your travels! Best of luck!

Obs: ahaha sou curiosa, de onde veio seu interesse por nomes e nomes de fora? Sempre me achei (e me acharam!) a esquisita por gostar de saber sobre nomes que eu nunca ia poder usar no [name_m]Brasil[/name_m] sem ser brega kk hoje guardo esse hobby em segredo hehe

8

@carolinemchd: [name_f]Essa[/name_f] resposta vai ser um pouco comprida. Eu sempre gostei muito de ler, mas também sempre fui muito teimosa com o que eu queria que acontecesse com os personagens. Então, depois que os livros terminavam, eu passava semanas pensando em como a história daqueles personagens continuou depois que o livro acabou (às vezes até mudando o que aconteceu com eles pra encaixar no que eu achava que devia acontecer) e, claro, os personagens sempre acabavam casando e tendo filhos. E esses filhos tinham que ter nomes! hahaha Acho que foi assim que começou meu vício por nomes. O problema é que não tem muitos sites sobre nomes em português (eu de vez em quando dou uma olhada no babycenter [name_m]Brasil[/name_m], mas aquele forum me irrita. Gosto do Nomes e mais Nomes, só que fala sobre nomes portugueses, não brasileiros), então eu comecei a procurar os sites em inglês mesmo e me parece que as pessoas fora do [name_m]Brasil[/name_m] tem tanto mais liberdade pra escolher os nomes dos filhos sem parecer brega. Você consegue imaginar uma menininha chamada [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] no [name_m]Brasil[/name_m]? Imagina dar nomes do meio? E eu acho tudo isso tão lindo hahaha. Eu entendo guardar o hobby em segredo porque não é uma coisa que eu saio espalhando por ai também. Eu tenho uma amiga com quem eu discuto nomes que sabe, mas ela é mais louca obcecada com os hobbys dela do que eu com os meus, então a gente encontrou um equilíbrio haha.

9

I’m from Belgium and this is the top 20 most given babynames last year:

[name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Emma[/name_f]
[name_f]Ella[/name_f]
[name_u]Julie[/name_u]
[name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_f]Noor[/name_f]
[name_f]Lotte[/name_f]
[name_f]Mila[/name_f]
Fien
[name_f]Lore[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Olivia[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Amber[/name_f]
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]
[name_f]Laura[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliette[/name_f]
[name_f]Lina[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]

[name_m]Lucas[/name_m]
[name_m]Mathis[/name_m]
[name_m]Louis[/name_m]
[name_m]Liam[/name_m]
[name_m]Vince[/name_m]
[name_m]Lars[/name_m]
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m]
[name_m]Alexander[/name_m]
[name_m]Leon[/name_m]
[name_u]Finn[/name_u]
[name_u]Jules[/name_u]
[name_u]Noah[/name_u]
[name_m]Adam[/name_m]
[name_m]Kobe[/name_m]
[name_u]Milan[/name_u]
Wout
Seppe
[name_m]Mats[/name_m]
[name_m]Stan[/name_m]
[name_m]Daan[/name_m]

10

hahaha mais ou menos a mesma coisa aqui!
eu sempre gostei de ler e acabei caindo no mundo das fanfictions e dos RPGs justamente por querer escolher um final adequado pros personagens, e sempre achava a parte mais divertida a escolha dos nomes!

E concordo plenamente, adoro isso de ter esses nomes do meio “secretos” que vc nao usa no dia-a-dia, mas sao parte do seu nome! E eles tem muito mais liberdade, a gente parece que fica limitado aos nomes tradicionais - nao dá pra usar palavras ([name_f]Holly[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_u]Ever[/name_u]), locais ([name_u]London[/name_u], [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] etc) e muito menos esses nomes unisex ou nome de homem em menina! Adoro esse frisson que os nomes unisex causam aqui no nameberry, porque isso é tão inconcebível em Portugues! O unico nome unisex que eu consigo pensar é [name_u]Ariel[/name_u]. E olhe lá! Eu lido com essa invejinha dos nomes gringos escolhendo nomes pros meus futuros gatos ahaha todos vao ter nomes aprovadíssimos no nameberry!

Adoro o nomes e mais nomes também, mas acho incrível o quanto alguns nomes em Portugal são completamente diferentes! Eu entendo que eles tem uma lista e só podem escolher os nomes aprovados lá, mas nao consigo imaginar uma [name_f]Matilde[/name_f] ou [name_f]Filipa[/name_f] com menos de 80 anos de idade! Vou dar uma olhada no babycenter depois, não sabia que lá tinha um forum!

[name_f]Millie[/name_f],

love [name_f]Noor[/name_f], it would be a terrific nn for [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]! [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] and [name_f]Louise[/name_f] are lovely!
[name_f]Laura[/name_f], [name_f]Nina[/name_f], [name_f]Elena[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] are great and would work perfectly in [name_u]Brazil[/name_u]! A very nice top 20 indeed!

[name_m]Lucas[/name_m] being the #1 is very surprising! It’s very common here, but I always thought its popularity was restricted to spanish/portuguese/italian speaking countries!

[name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce Wout and [name_m]Mathis[/name_m]?

11

@carolinemchd, Beñat is like “beh-NYAT” (I think the ñ is similar to “nh” in Portuguese).
[name_f]Leire[/name_f] is “lehi-reh” with a flapped R… I have no idea how to explain it, but [name_m]French[/name_m] Wikipedia says “léiré”, if that helps? You can find it on forvo here: Pronunciations for leire in Basque (from Leire Baños to Leire Baños) which is a way bigger help that I will ever be without being able to say it out loud for you myself.
Aitzol is “eye-CHOLL”, basically. AI makes an “eye” sound, TZ in this case is “ch” (at least in my area).

@nla, [name_m]Till[/name_m] is a guy, apparently it’s short for Diet-names, but I don’t know which longer form was his. [name_f]Dalila[/name_f] is such a lovely name, and I actually thought hers was pronounced da-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-la initially, too. Very nice either way!
Enjoy your time in [name_u]Paris[/name_u]!

@millie09, thanks for sharing the Belgian list! I really like [name_u]Julie[/name_u], [name_f]Louise[/name_f], [name_f]Noor[/name_f] (cool to see it so high!), [name_f]Lotte[/name_f], [name_f]Mila[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_m]Mathis[/name_m], [name_m]Louis[/name_m], [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], [name_u]Jules[/name_u] (Looove!)

12

Some great names there! I hope you’re enjoying your travels. I did a year abroad about 10 years ago and it changed my life. Some of the names from my year in Germany. (I wrote a long list in the back of my journal so I wouldn’t forget everyone; I don’t remember all this off the top of my head!)

Belgium
Jantin
[name_f]Pamela[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Frederic[/name_m]
    [name_m]Stijn[/name_m]

Bosnia
Elha

Bulgaria
Vyara

  • x-
    Boyan

Cameroon
[name_m]Ernest[/name_m]

[name_f]Canada[/name_f]
[name_f]Laura[/name_f]
[name_f]Violetta[/name_f] (Polish born)

Finland
[name_m]Jaako[/name_m] (guy)

[name_f]France[/name_f]
[name_f]Claudie[/name_f]
[name_f]Linda[/name_f]
[name_f]Maud[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Christophe[/name_m]
    [name_m]Martin[/name_m]
    [name_m]Mathieu[/name_m]
    Rémy

Germany
[name_f]Astrid[/name_f]
[name_f]Barbara[/name_f]
[name_f]Beata[/name_f]
[name_f]Bettine[/name_f]
[name_f]Bianca[/name_f]
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
[name_f]Daniela[/name_f] (nn [name_u]Dani[/name_u])
[name_u]Inge[/name_u]
[name_f]Kornelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Mareike[/name_f]
[name_f]Melanie[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
[name_f]Patricia[/name_f]
[name_f]Silvia[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] (several of them)
    [name_m]Christian[/name_m]
    [name_m]Cornelius[/name_m] (x2)
    [name_m]Daniel[/name_m]
    Fahmy (his parents are Egyptian)
    [name_m]Frank[/name_m]
    [name_m]Hannes[/name_m]
    [name_u]Jan[/name_u]
    [name_m]Jens[/name_m]
    [name_m]Martin[/name_m]
    [name_m]Thorsten[/name_m]

[name_f]Ireland[/name_f]
[name_f]Aoife[/name_f]
[name_f]Sinead[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_u]Morgan[/name_u]
    [name_m]Nil[/name_m]

[name_f]Italy[/name_f]
[name_m]Stefano[/name_m]

Japan
[name_m]Jun[/name_m] (guy)

Portugal
[name_f]Andreia[/name_f]
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Joana[/name_f]

Slovenia
Dabjana

South [name_f]Africa[/name_f]
Dinesh

Spain
[name_f]Blanca[/name_f]
[name_f]Nuria[/name_f]

[name_u]Sweden[/name_u]
[name_f]Ingela[/name_f]
[name_f]Sara[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Anders[/name_m]

Ukraine
Svitlana

  • x-
    Livio

UK
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_u]Michael[/name_u]
    [name_m]Richard[/name_m]
    [name_m]Will[/name_m]

US
[name_f]Adrienne[/name_f]
[name_f]Ashli[/name_f]
[name_f]Autumn[/name_f]
[name_f]Cat[/name_f] (that was her full name, not short for [name_f]Catherine[/name_f])
[name_f]Heather[/name_f]
[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]
[name_f]Kristin[/name_f]
[name_f]Leah[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Susan[/name_f]

  • x-
    [name_m]Aldo[/name_m]
    Babu (parents from [name_f]India[/name_f])
    [name_m]David[/name_m]
    [name_m]Eamon[/name_m]
    [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m]
    [name_m]Rob[/name_m]
    [name_m]Scott[/name_m]
    [name_m]Vache[/name_m] (originally from Armenia)