Echeveria

Meaning: ("The new house", a surname of Basque origin spelled Etxeberria in that language and widespread in Spanish speaking countries. Plants may be evergreen or deciduous. Flowers on short stalks (cymes) arise from compact rosettes of succulent fleshy, often brightly coloured leaves. Species are polycarpic, meaning that they may flower and set seed many times over the course of their lifetimes. Often numerous offsets are produced, and are commonly known as "hen and chicks", which can also refer to other genera, such as Sempervivum, that are significantly different from Echeveria.

The genus is named after the 18th century Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy.)

Origin: (Basque)

Pronunciation: (ech-uh-vuh-ree-uh)

Gender: Female

I was in the garden center at Wal-Mart waiting for my boyfriend to get lunch and I was looking at some plants and I saw one that had the name Echeveria and I was like that is very foreign and beautiful. The meaning and origin is unique and very much a fresh start like meaning. This is a name best suited for a fantasy novel in my opinion if used as a characters name. However it would be really cool to see a planet named this in a novel as well.

Ortiz

Meaning: (Fortification, Son of Orti, The given name Orti seems to be disputed in meaning, deriving from either Latin Fortis meaning "Brave, Strong" or Latin Fortunius meaning "Fortunate".)

Origin: (Spanish, Basque, Latin)

Pronunciation: (AORTIYZ, Or-TEEZE)

Gender: Male, Possibly Uni-Sex

I love watching those millionaire real estate shows and one of the real estate agents on the one shows last name is Ortiz. I love the sound of the name and the meanings are very strong and bold. I think this name is very attractive because of it being Spanish. Spanish names almost always seem attractive in some way or another, not always but sometimes. I like too that this name is pronounced just as it is spelled, so easy.

Elixabete

Meaning: (Basque form of Elizabeth, My God is a Vow, My God is Plenty, God of Plenty.)

Origin: (Basque)

Pronunciation: (ee-LEESH-ah-bet-EH, ee-LICKS-ah-bet-EH, iy-LIY-SH-aaBehT-EH)

Gender: Female

I came across this variant of Elizabeth *see on list of posts* when I was looking up another name on the internet. I absolutely love this spelling. Of course when I went to Yahoo Answers for opinions people were not thrilled. Even though I told them it was for my blog not a child they couldn’t help but keep telling me if I named a child this then it would be bullied because of the name. They fail to realize kids get bullied all the time and most of the time it has nothing to do with their name. I hate people that think that people should conform to certain naming patterns. I can’t help but say that if we do that our lives may all turn into an episode of Twilight Zone, where we all look alike and are named alike. I don’t care for crazy difficult names or spellings but it is the parent’s decision just like having unique names is an author’s prerogative. Also they got all bent out of shape because I felt like pronouncing it differently than the internet reads.  

To Note: I pronounce this name ee-LICKS-ah-bet-EH, I found no evidence on the internet that this name is pronounced that way. The proper pronunciation is ee-LEESH-ah-bet-EH. I will continue to pronounce it as ee-LICKS-ah-bet-EH and so I added the pronunciation under pronunciation. Plus another person saw it pronounced the way I do so I decided to add it to under pronunciation. Of course if you are staying authentic and wish to stick with the Basque pronunciation it is ee-LEESH-ah-bet-EH.

I think this name is really pretty and unique looking. It is sort of futuristic looking to me.

Andorra

Meaning: (To Walk, The Forest, Shrub Covered Land, Country bordered by France and Spain.)

Origin: (French, Arabic, Spanish, Basque)

Pronunciation: (ae-n-d-AW-r-uh, Ann-dor-uh, Go to this site and run your cursor over the name Andorra to hear how it is said: http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=andorra++++++&submit=Submit)

Gender: Female

I really liked this name when I saw this on a map once. I also saw the other day that it was a name of someone but I can't remember where I saw it. The meaning is good and everyone that reads my blog knows I love the name Dora but when it's combined with other names (ex. Dorabella, Adorabella *both on my list of posts*) so I love the name Andorra.

Xavier

Meaning: (New House, Bright New House, Bright, Splendid, Transferred use of the Spanish surname derived from the place-name Xavier in Navarre. The name, which is believed to be derived from the Basque Etcheberria (the new house), was originally borne in honor of St. Francis Xavier (1506 - 52), a famous Spanish missionary to Japan and the East Indies and the patron saint of missionaries in foreign lands. Professor Charles Xavier is the leader of the X-Men (the good guys) in the comic book series.)

Origin: (English, Latin, Basque, Arabic, Spanish, French)

Pronunciation: (Zay-vyer, ehk-SAY-vyer, ecks-ZAY-vee-er, ZAY-vee-er or SHAV-ier, Go to this site and run your cursor over Xavier to hear how it is said: http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=xavier&submit=Submit)

Gender: Male

I have loved this name since I first saw the X-Men movies years ago. I think Xavier makes a good given name and is an extremely sexy male name. I love the spelling and the meaning. I pretty much love everything about this name. I haven't used it in a novel yet but it is on my list of possibilities.