Baby Names Meanings

Everyone has a name, but most people have a only a vague idea, if any idea at all, of what their name means, and only a relative few, at most, give them much more than a fleeting thought. The study of names is called onomastics, a field which touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, sociology, philology and much more.

When people refer to the "meaning of a name", they are most likely referring to the etymology, which is the original literal meaning. Onomastics is a field of study far too broad for us to begin to even scratch the surface here.

We've assembled some of our favorite baby names along with their origins and meanings. They are divided by gender and listed in alphabetical order by name.

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the meanings of names.