Quick Pick: Best of the Meaning

Photo by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

To some parents, meaning is critical when naming their baby. They may want to emulate a concept that is important to them or honor another family member with a name of the same meaning. To aid these parents, I have collected some names with the following meanings: Grace, Love, Life, Fighter, Beautiful, Brave/Warrior, Strong, Fair One, Gift of/from God, and Defender/Protector.

To make this fun for everyone, I have turned this into a Quick Pick, because even if meaning isn't important to you, you may still develop an opinion of your favorite name from a group of names. Which name do you like best out of each meaning group? You may prefer a different spelling… I just listed my personal preference. And if a group has both boy names and girl names, you can pick one for each gender. Go!

1. Grace/Graceful
Anabel
Anita
Anna
Annaliese
Anne
Annette
Annika
Anya
Charis
Charissa
Grace
Hannah
Joanna
Lynette
Nancy
Nanette
Nina
Tabitha
Willow

2. Love/Worthy of Being Loved/Beloved
Darryl
David
Elmo
Jedidiah
Leif
Lowell

Amanda
Amara
Amy
Cara
Carys
Cheryl
Darlene
Esme
Kerensa
Mabel

3. Life
Guido
Omar
Vidal
Zoltar

Aisha
Eva
Eve
Evelyn
Liv
Vida
Viveka
Vivian
Zoe

4. Fighter
Barron
Boris
Donovan
Duncan
Evan
Louis
Magnus
Oscar
Owen
Roger
Sloan
Walter

Hilda
Louella
Louisa
Louise
Sloane

5. Beautiful
Alana
Alina
Anwen
Arabella
Belinda
Bella
Belle
Bonnie
Calista
Calla
Clarinda
Doreen
Keely
Linda
Naomi

6. Brave/Warrior
Anderson
Andrew
Bernard
Brandon
Brendon
Casey
Conrad
Emerson
Emery
Everett
Willard

Andrea
Bernadette
Casey
Kelsey
Tracy

7. Strong/Strength
Angus
Brian
Bryant
Carl
Charles
Ralph

Audrey
Breanna
Bridget
Carla
Carly
Carol
Caroline
Matilda
Maude
Megan
Milicent
Valerie

8. Fair One
Guinevere
Jennifer
Kenzie
McKenzie

9. Gift of/from God
Hans
Ian
Ivan
Jonas
Matthew
Micah
Michael
Mitchell
Nathan
Nathaniel
Sean
Shane
Zane
Zebediah

Dorothea
Dorothy
Jana
Jane
Janet
Janice
Michaela
Michelle
Mischa

10. Defender/Protector/Guardian
Alasdair
Alexander
Alexei
Chad
Eamon
Edmund
Edward
Liam
Raymond
Sanders
Sasha
Warner
Warren
William
Willis

Alexa
Alexandra
Alexis
Lexie
Lisandra
Ramona
Rosamund
Wilhelmina

Author's Note: This was originally posted on the old NameFreak! blog, but revised for this post.