Oxford Dictionary of First Names
A Concise Dictionary of First Names
Oxford Dictionary of First Names (1990, with Flavia Hodges)Karin (f.) Swedish form of KATHERINE, found as a less common variant of KAREN in America and Britain.
Mitrofan (m.) Russian: from Greek Metrophanes, a derivative of meter (genitive metros) mother (sc. of God) + phainein to show, appear. The name was borne by the first bishop of Byzantium.
Thecla (f.) English: contracted form of the Greek name Theokleia, composed of the elements theos god + kleria glory. The name was borne by a 1st-century saint (the first female matyr), who was particularly popular in the Middle Ages because of the lurid details of her suffering recorded in the apocryphal 'Acts of Paul and Thecla'.
A Concise Dictionary of First Names (1992, 1997, with Flavia Hodges)Elena Italian and Spanish form of Helen, now sometimes also used in the English-speaking world.
Niamh Irish Gaelic name, pronounced 'nee-uv', from a vocabulary word meaning 'brightness' or 'beauty'. It was borne in Irish mythology by the daughter of the sea god, who fell in love with the youthful Oisin, son of Finn MacCool, and carried him off over the sea to the land of perpetual youth, Tir na nOg, where there is no sadness, no ageing, and no death. It is now a very popular given name in Ireland.
