Miles

Meaning: (Peaceful, Soldier, Favor, Grace, Merciful, Mild, Calm, Eager to Please, Who is Like God, The name is of disputed origin. Its medieval form was the Roman name Milo (Latin), itself from the element miles ('soldier'), possibly influenced from the association with the name Michael. Another derivation suggests the source as the Slavic mil ('favor, grace'). The name has been used by English speakers since its introduction from the Norman Conquest, and it saw a moderate revival in the 18th century. In Ireland, it is taken as the Anglicized form of other names such as Maoileas, Maelmore, and Maolmuire, and the form Myles as the equivalent of the Gaelic Maolra. In Scotland, Myles is taken as the Anglicized form of Maoilios. The medieval knight was called miles in Medieval Latin, while in Classical Latin, miles meant simply soldier of any sort, including infantry. Miles Gloriosus, whose name means "boastful soldier", was a comic stock character in classical Roman drama. Miles has several variant forms, some of which offer their own derivations: Milan, Milo, Milos, Myles and Mylo. Historical: the Pilgrim leader, Miles Standish. In modern times, the character Miles O'Brien in the TV series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Musician Miles Davis.)

Origin: (Old German, Latin, Hebrew, English, Slavic, Norman)

Pronunciation: (MAYah-S, MIELZ, MIE-əlz, MIYLZ, myls)

Gender: Male, possibly Uni-Sex

I've been watching the new Science Fiction Dystopian  / Post-Apocalyptic show Revolution. The main characters uncle who helps her is named Miles. I have heard this used as a name before but hearing it more and more I have decided to add it to my blog. The name has great meanings and does seem strong. Most people will think of this as more a way to measure distance rather than a name but it seems to have been used as a name for a long time. I like the look and sound of the name as well.

The name Miles is a form of Milo or vice versa. Anyway a friend of mine Mallory is about to have her second child, a son, sometime this month. Her first child was a son as well and his name is Roman (Born December 2010). Her and her husband are naming there newest addition Milo. I think Milo is a somewhat cute name. Congrats to them on their newest little one!

Acadia

Meaning: (Place of Plenty, Idyllic Place, Place name: Acadia was the name given to the area of the French colonial empire of New France, in Northeastern U.S. & Canada. The 17^th Century settlers of Nova Scotia named it Acadia after the name of a river there. The Acadians are descendent of 17^th Century French settlers who moved to Acadia in the Canadian maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Islands, and the American state of Maine. In the mid-18^th century, the British deported many Acadians from the Maritime Provinces. Many of them settled in Louisiana and came to be known as Cajuns, while others left for France. When the British conquered New France, the French colony Acadia was renamed Nova Scotia.

It originated from the Latin name Arcadia. The origin of the designation Acadia is credited to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who on his 16th century map applied the ancient Greek name "Arcadia" to the entire Atlantic coast north of Virginia (note the inclusion of the 'r' of the original Greek name). "Arcadia" derives from the Arcadia district in Greece which since Classical antiquity had the extended meanings of "Refuge" or "Idyllic Place". The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says: "Arcadia, the name Verrazzano gave to Maryland or Virginia 'on account of the beauty of the trees,' made its first cartographical appearance in the 1548 Gastaldo map and is the only name on that map to survive in Canadian usage. . . . In the 17th century Champlain fixed its present orthography, with the 'r' omitted, and Ganong has shown its gradual progress northeastwards, in a succession of maps, to its resting place in the Atlantic Provinces."

Also the name of an automobile model by GMC. Acadia National Park, Maine, U.S.)

Origin: (Algonquian-Wakashan, French)

Pronunciation: (ah-KEY-Diy-ah, ah-KAY-dee-ə, Go to this site and run your cursor over the name Acadia to hear how it is said:  http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=acadia )

Gender: Female

I have been seeing things on TV recently talking about Acadia National Park in Maine. I have heard this before but until recently I didn't think of it as a persons name. Now I think its unique and pretty. I like the meanings as well. It has an interesting history too.

Isha

Meaning: (The Ruling Goddess, The Lord, Woman, Protector, Alive, She who Lives)

Origin: (Hebrew, Sanskrit)

Pronunciation: (ee-SHAH, eye-shah, iy-SHaa- or iy-SHuw)

Gender: Famale

I saw this name the other day and I thought it was really pretty. The meanings are beautiful and I love the look and sound of this name. It's short and I love the exotic quality of this name as well.

Colette / Collette

Meaning: (Victory of the People, Victorious, Necklace, Short form of NICOLETTE which is a diminutive form of Nicole, a feminine form of Nicholas. Saint Colette was a 15th-century French nun who gave her money to the poor. This was also the pen name of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954).)

Origin: (French, Greek)

Pronunciation: (ko-LET, koh-LEHT)

Gender: Female

I was watching a lifetime movie a few weeks ago that was from the Love Comes Softly movie series based off the books. One of the characters was named Colette. I have heard and read this name before but have just thought to add it here now. It has good meanings and is old fashioned but fits well in the modern era and in the future I believe.

Han

Meaning: (A Rooster, Gift from God, God is Gracious)

Origin: (German, Scandinavian, Danish, Hebrew)

Pronunciation: (hahn)

Gender: Uni-Sex

I was watching Star Wars the other day and started thinking about adding Han, after Han Solo. It's a good name with decent meanings. It's short and can be a nickname for a longer name like Johannes *See on list of posts*.

Katya

Meaning: (Pure, Blessed, Holy, Variant of Yekaterina (Russian form of Katherine *see Catherine/ Kathryn/ Katherine on my list of post*))

Origin: (Russian, Ukrainian, Greek)

Pronunciation: (KAH-tyah)

Gender: Female

I was watching a Syfy movie the other day and there was a woman named Katya on there. I know it is a form of Katherine but I thought it deserved its own posting because it can be its own stand alone name. It's pretty and I love the look and sound of it.

Gwendolyn

Meaning: (Fair, Blessed, White Browed, Fair Brow, White Circle, White Ring, Blessed Ring, White Bow, English variant of the Welsh Gwendolen (Fair-Browed), a compound name composed of the elements Gwen, Gwyn (Fair, White, Blessed) and Dolen (Brows, Eyebrows), In some legends, Merlin the magician has a wife named Gwendolyn. The variant Wendy is much more common. The name Gwendolyn is a modification of the name Guendoloena, a fictional queen in the Historia Regum Britanniae written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1135. Geoffrey also used the name in his Vita Merlini to refer to a different character, Merlin's wife; the metre shows that he pronounced the name as a pentasyllable, Guĕndŏlŏēnă, with the "gu" pronounced "gw". Spelled Gwendoloena, the name appears as that of Arthur's queen Guinevere in the Latin romance De Ortu Waluuanii. Arthur Hutson has suggested that Geoffrey misread the masculine Old Welsh name Guendoleu as Guendolen, and then chose to Latinize it. The first records of a real person being named Gwendolen appear in the 19th century. Gwendoline was in use in England in the 1860s, and Gwendolen appeared in Daniel Deronda, written by George Eliot and published in serialized form 1874-6.)

Origin: (Welsh, Irish)

Pronunciation: (GWEHN-də-lin, GWYN-doh-lin, GWEN-duh-luhn)

Gender: Female

I was reading or watching something the other day and it had this name. I have seen it before. I have names similar on my blog. The name is pretty and has good beautiful meanings. A short nickname for such a long name can be Gwen, Dolyn, Dol, and Gwenny. The name is old fashioned but a good alternative to the more popular Guinevere.

Amaryllis

Meaning: (Fresh, Sparkling, Sparkling Eyes, Derived from the word amaryssein meaning 'to sparkle'. The name was popular in literature; it was used by Virgil, Ovid, and English pastoral poets from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Spenser and Milton. This was the name of a heroine in Virgil's epic poem 'Eclogues'. The name was often used poetically to refer to a simple shepherdess or country girl. Amaryllis is also associated with the flower or plant, itself named after the 19th-century Arcadian heroine. Amaryllis is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest region near the Cape. For many years there was confusion amongst botanists over the generic names Amaryllis and Hippeastrum, one result of which is that the common name "amaryllis" is mainly used for cultivars of the genus Hippeastrum, widely sold in the winter months for their ability to bloom indoors. Plants of the genus Amaryllis belladonna are known as belladonna lily, Jersey lily, naked lady, amarillo or, in South Africa, March lily. This is one of numerous genera with the common name "lily" due to their flower shape and growth habit. However, they are only distantly related to the true lily, Lilium. A. belladonna has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. )

Origin: (Greek, Old Greek, English, Literature)

Pronunciation: (aeM-aa-RIHL-ahS, am-ə-RIL-is (English), am-ah-RILL-iss, Uh-mar-ih-lis, A-mar-i-llis)

Gender: Female

I answered a question on Yahoo Answers a few weeks ago and this person was asking about naming a Princess Amaryliss which is a different spelling of Amaryllis. After I saw that question I fell in love with the name and then I saw the meanings of Amaryllis and I love them too. It seemed very sci-fi futuristic to me but I could also see this in pretty much any genre.

Dresden

Meaning: (Is a city in Germany, famous for its beautiful Porcelain. It was the Capitol of the Kingdom of Saxony. While the city has a long and storied history, many who hear the name “Dresden” think immediately of the massive WWII Firebombing that destroyed the city and killed thousands of Civilians, its name etymologically derives from Old Sorbian Drezdany, meaning “People of the Forest.”)

Origin: (German)

Pronunciation: (Drez-den)

Gender: Male

This name I heard on someone once. Many do think of the WWII Bomb attack on the city. I happen to like the meaning and the look of the name. It's strong and you don't hear this name too often.

Monet

Meaning: (Solitary, Single, Only, Hermit, Descendent of the Protector, To be Heard, To Advise, To Warn, Monk, From a French surname which was derived from either HAMON or EDMOND or Simon. This was the surname of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).)

Origin: (French, Old Greek)

Pronunciation: (MowNEH, moe-nay, Go to this site and run your cursor over the name Monet to hear how it is said: http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=Claude+Monet)

Gender: Uni-Sex

I was watching Dr. Phil the other day and they had this lady on that was named Monet. The name Monet I really like plus it's the last name of one of my favorite artist- Claude Monet. It has good meanings and it has an exotic and interesting look.

Simone

Meaning: (Listening, To be Heard, She who Hears, God has Heard, French feminine form of SIMON. A famous bearer was Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), a French feminist and philosopher. Used outside of France from the Middle of the 20^th Century.)

Origin: (French, English, Hebrew)

Pronunciation: (see-MON (French), Siy-MOWN, si-MOHN, see-mohn, sih-MOHN)

Gender: Female

I was watching The King of Queens show the other day and the main lady Carrie learned her real name was Simone but her father lost the rights to the name over a card game with her uncle. Then her uncle gave the name to his daughter and she got her neices name. It was a funny episode but anyway I really like the name Simone. I have heard this before and it has taken a while but it has grown on me. The meanings are good and the look is very nice. I like it looks moderately foreign.

Silvana

Meaning: (Of the Forest, Queen of the Forest, Woman of the Woods, Italian feminine form of SILVANUS: Roman name derived from Latin silva "wood, forest". Silvanus was the Roman god of forests. This name appears in the New Testament belonging to one of Paul's companions, also called Silas.)

Origin: (Italian, Greek, Latin, Spanish, English, German)

Pronunciation: (seel-VAH-nah, sil-VAH-nə, Siy-LVAA-Naa, sil-VAHN-ah)

Gender: Female

I forget where I saw this name but I really love it. I already have Silas on my list of posts which is a similar meaning name. I think Silvana is a beautiful name with lovely meanings. It has an interesting look as well.

Linus

Meaning: (From the Greek name Λινος (Linos) meaning "flax". In Greek legend he was the son of the god Apollo, who accidentally killed him in a contest. Another son of Apollo by this name was the music teacher of Herakles. Biblical: A Christian in Rome named by the apostle Paul as sending greetings to Timothy. (2Ti 4:21) Irenaeus (born about 130 C.E.) and others after him have identified this Linus with an early overseer of Rome who bore the same name, but this identification rests merely on tradition. In modern times it was the name of a character in Charles Schulz's comic strip 'Peanuts'. Blond, Flaxen Haired, Net, Flaxen Colored.)

Origin: (Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized), German, Scandinavian)

Pronunciation: (LIE-nəs (English), LEE-nuws (German), LYE-nuss, LAYNahS in English or LIYNuhS in German, LIY-nəs)

Gender: Male

I was watching an old episode of Law & Order Special Victims Unit there was a guy on there named Linus. I have heard this name a few times before. I think it's an old fashioned preppy name but I like it. It has good meanings and it has an easy pronunciation.