Names of explorers and adventurers
Which names of explorers and adventurers are in this collection?
Roald Amundsen led an expedition that reached the South Pole in 1911. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic.
Names that carry the pull of the unmapped. Polar ice, open ocean, high altitude, deep space. There is something fitting about naming a child after the people who went first, because that is what you are doing: sending someone into a world you cannot see from here.
Meriwether Middle English for pleasant, cheerful weather or temperament; famously borne by Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the expedition that mapped the American West.
York A place name from Old Norse Jorvik; carried by York, the enslaved man on the Lewis and Clark expedition who was denied his freedom for years after it.
Ernest Germanic for serious and resolute; famously borne by Ernest Shackleton, whose ship was crushed by Antarctic ice and who still brought all 28 men home alive.
Roald Old Norse for famous ruler; famously borne by Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.
Matthew Hebrew for gift of God; famously borne by Matthew Henson, the Arctic explorer on the disputed 1909 dash for the North Pole, credited to Peary alone for decades.
Fridtjof Old Norse, literally peace-thief, from a saga hero; famously borne by Fridtjof Nansen, Arctic explorer and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Edmund Old English for wealthy protector; famously borne by Edmund Hillary, who summited Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
Tenzing A Tibetan Buddhist name meaning holder of the teachings; famously borne by Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit of Everest alongside Edmund Hillary.
Reinhold Germanic for wise counsel and rule; famously borne by Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb all fourteen of the world's 8,000 meter peaks.
Pasang A Tibetan day-name meaning Friday; famously borne by Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to summit Everest.
Jacques French form of Jacob; famously borne by Jacques Cousteau, co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung and the man who showed the world the ocean floor.
Sylvia Latin for of the forest; famously borne by Sylvia Earle, the oceanographer they call Her Deepness.
Naomi Hebrew for pleasantness; famously borne by Naomi James, the first woman to sail solo around the world by way of Cape Horn, in 1978.
Ellen A form of Helen, traditionally linked to torch or light; famously borne by Ellen MacArthur, who set the solo round the world sailing record in 2005.
Krystyna Polish form of Christina; famously borne by Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz, the first woman to sail solo around the world.
Amelia Germanic for work or striving; famously borne by Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly the Atlantic alone, who vanished over the Pacific in 1937.
Bessie A short form of Elizabeth; famously borne by Bessie Coleman, who went to France to earn the pilot's license America would not give her.
Neil An Irish name traditionally translated as champion; famously borne by Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon.
Yuri Russian form of George, Greek for farmer; famously borne by Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to travel into space.
Valentina Latin for strong and healthy; famously borne by Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
Mae An English name from the month of May, ultimately the Roman goddess Maia; famously borne by Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space.
Sally A diminutive of Sarah, Hebrew for princess; famously borne by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
Kalpana Sanskrit for imagination; famously borne by Kalpana Chawla, the first woman of Indian origin to fly in space.
Buzz A childhood nickname he later made his legal name; famously borne by Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the Moon.
Chiaki A Japanese name whose meaning depends on the kanji, often written as thousand autumns; famously borne by Chiaki Mukai, the first Japanese woman in space.
Marco Italian form of Mark, possibly from Mars; famously borne by Marco Polo, whose travels shaped how Europe imagined Asia for centuries.
Freya Old Norse for lady, the Norse goddess of love; famously borne by Freya Stark, who traveled alone through parts of Arabia and Persia few Westerners had seen.
Isabella A Spanish and Italian form of Elizabeth; famously borne by Isabella Bird, one of the first women elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Alexandra feminine form of Alexander, "defender of men"; also borne by Alexandra David-Néel, who reached Lhasa with Yongden in 1924 and wrote about their journey
Nellie A pen name, historically a nickname for Ellen or Helen; famously borne by Nellie Bly, the journalist who beat Jules Verne's fictional trip around the world.
Ida A Germanic name of uncertain meaning, perhaps linked to labor; famously borne by Ida Pfeiffer, one of the first women to travel solo around the world.
Alexander defender of men, from Greek Alexandros; also borne by Alexander von Humboldt, who researched the Americas with Aimé Bonpland and published work on where plants grow
Charles "man," from the Germanic Karl; famously borne by Charles Darwin, whose voyage on the Beagle led to the theory of evolution.
Jeanne French form of Jane; famously borne by Jeanne Baret, who disguised herself as a man to become the first woman to sail around the world.
Nain Hindi and Sanskrit for eyes; famously borne by Nain Singh Rawat, the surveyor who secretly mapped Tibet while disguised as a pilgrim.
Nirmal Sanskrit for pure and unblemished; famously borne by Nirmal Purja, who climbed all fourteen 8,000 meter peaks in under seven months.
Arunima Sanskrit for the reddish light of dawn; famously borne by Arunima Sinha, the first female amputee to summit Everest.
Wanda A Polish name of debated origin; famously borne by Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first European woman up Everest and the first woman up K2.
Roz A short form of Rosalind; famously borne by Roz Savage, the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean.
Robyn A feminine form of Robin, Germanic for bright fame; famously borne by Robyn Davidson, who crossed 1,700 miles of Australian outback alone with camels.
Liv Old Norse for protection, now read as the Norwegian word for life; famously borne by Liv Arnesen, the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole.
Ann Hebrew for grace, by way of Hannah; famously borne by Ann Bancroft, the first woman to reach the North Pole by dogsled.
Barbara Greek for foreign or strange; famously borne by Barbara Hillary, who survived lung cancer and became the first Black woman to reach both poles.
Ada A Germanic name meaning noble; famously borne by Ada Blackjack, the Inupiat seamstress who survived alone on Wrangel Island after her expedition fell apart.
Junko A Japanese name often meaning pure child, depending on the kanji; famously borne by Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest.
Sacagawea Of disputed origin, Shoshone or Hidatsa, bird woman or boat launcher; famously borne by Sacagawea, who guided Lewis and Clark with her infant son on her back.
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