We believe a name deserves more than a one-line meaning copied from another site. So we research, transliterate, cross-check, and write up every entry — and then we tell you who we are and where we got it.
Names work best when they are written about by people who know what they are talking about. Our team is small, multilingual, and listed by name on every entry they edit. Disagreements with our research can be sent to any of them directly.
Reads classical Arabic and Persian. Holds a master's in Islamic studies from SOAS. Previously contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic Names. Lives in Dubai.
PhD candidate in South Asian languages at JNU. Specialises in the etymology of feminine names across the Indian subcontinent. Lives in Bangalore.
Speaks fluent Irish (Gaeilge). Holds a master's in Celtic studies from Trinity College Dublin. Lives in Galway.
Author of The Names We Carry: African Naming Traditions (2024). Specialises in West African feminine naming customs. Lives in Lagos.
Every name on this site has been through the same four-step process before it appears.
An editor with reading knowledge of the source language traces the name's roots in primary texts. For Arabic, that means consulting Lisān al-ʿArab and modern reference grammars. For Sanskrit, the Monier-Williams Dictionary. For Old English and Germanic names, Reaney and Wilson. We do not rely on tertiary baby-name books.
Names in non-Latin scripts are rendered in their original form and transliterated according to standard schemes — ALA-LC for Arabic, IAST for Sanskrit, BGN/PCGN for Yoruba. We list the script, the strict transliteration, and the common spelling parents are likely to recognise.
We pull current-year and historical ranks from official birth registers: U.S. SSA, U.K. ONS, Australian ABS, Canadian Statistics, and equivalents. Where a name is used in countries without published data, we note that explicitly.
An editor writes the entry — meaning, history, cultural notes, notable bearers — and a second editor reviews it before publication. The page header shows when each entry was last reviewed and by whom.
A representative sample. Every entry cites its specific sources.
We take corrections seriously. If you believe an entry has an error in etymology, transliteration, or fact — please write to us. Include the name, what you believe is incorrect, and a source we can check.
editors@babynamesforgirls.org