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The Meaning of Life.....Well, Names anyway!

Not very scholarly and not to be taken too seriously...

Clicking on a name will take you back to the ancestors' pages

Names of our Female Ancestors
Ada	From German meaning "nobility" or from the Hebrew Adah - an "ornament".
Agnes	Greek for "pure".
Alice	Old German - "noble woman".
Amelia	A form of "Emily".
Amy	From the French "aimée" meaning "beloved."
Ann/Anna/Annie	A variant of Hannah which means "grace".
Beatrice	"Bringer of joy".
Bertha	"The bright one".
Betsy/Betty	A diminutive of Elizabeth.
Carmen	"Fruitful".
Caroline	Feminine version of Charles, meaning "free man".
Catherine	From the Greek meaning "pure".
Constance	From the Latin "constancy".
Cora	"Pure" or "maiden" - Greek (not heard very often these days....)
Daphne	From the Greek for "bay tree".
Doris	A girl from Doria, a country in ancient Greece.
Dorothea	From the Greek meaning "gift of God".
Edith	Old English - "prosperity".
Edna	Perhaps from the Hebrew "pleasure" or the Gaelic "kernel".
Eleanor	French version of Helen meaning "bright and shining one".
Eliza	Pet form of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth/Elizebeth	Hebrew meaning "consecrated to God".
Ellen	Variant of Helen.
Emily/Emeley	Derived from the Roman Aemilia - the Latin for "striving" or "eager".
Emma	From the old German word for "universal".
Esther	Hebrew for the herb "myrtle."
Ethel	Old English meaning "noble".
Fanny/Frances	Feminine form of Frances meaning "free".
Hannah	Biblical name meaning "grace".
Harriet/Hariette	Feminine version of Henry - Old High German meaning "ruler" or "king".
Helen	From the Greek "the bright and shining one".
Irene	Greek for "peace".
Jane	Feminine form of John - "favoured by God".
June	From the month.
Kay	Derived from Catherine - "pure" - well it would be, it's my name!
Laura	From the Latin meaning "laurel" or "bay tree".
Lilian/Lily	"A lily" - possibly from Elizabeth.
Lizzie	Another pet name for Elizabeth.
Louesa/Louisa	Feminine form of Louis or Lewis, originally meaning "famous warrior".
Lucy	From the Latin meaning "light".
Margaret	"A pearl" - from the Greek.
Maria	A form of Mary.
Martha	Aramaic meaning "lady".
Mary	Thought to mean "wished for child" - Hebrew.
Maryann	Name taken from Mary and Ann - obviously!
May	Form of Mary or Margaret.
Nancy	Pet form of Ann or Agnes.
Nora	Pet form of Eleanor.
Olive	From the olive tree, a symbol of peace.
Phoebe	"The radiant one" - Greek.
Rebecca	From the Hebrew meaning "cow" - sorry all you Beckys out there!
Rita	Diminutive of Marguerite - from the Greek meaning "pearl".
Rose	Named for one of the best-loved flowers.
Salloma	Possibly derived from the Hebrew Salome meaning "peace".
Sarah	From the Hebrew - "princess".
Susannah	Biblical name meaning "lily" - from the Hebrew.
Thirza	Hebrew for "pleasantness".

Please click here for Male Names

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