Names of generals and commanders
Not names that mean warrior. Names that belonged to actual commanders in the historical record: the ones who held the pass, broke the siege, or rode at the head of the army at seventeen. Some are conquerors and we say so. Honest, not reverent.
Leonidas Greek for son of the lion, from leon; famously borne by Leonidas of Sparta, who held the pass at Thermopylae.
Pericles Greek for surrounded by glory; famously borne by Pericles, the Athenian general who led the city through its Golden Age.
Cyrus A Persian name of debated meaning, sometimes read as like the sun; famously borne by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire.
Aetius From the Greek aetos, eagle; famously borne by Flavius Aetius, the Roman general who stopped Attila the Hun.
Yusuf The Arabic form of Joseph; famously borne by Yusuf ibn Ayyub, the sultan the West calls Saladin, who retook Jerusalem and spared its people.
Jan The Czech form of John; famously borne by Jan Zizka, the Hussite general who never lost a battle, even after losing his sight.
Gustavus A Latinized Norse name long borne by Swedish kings; famously borne by Gustavus Adolphus, whose reforms reshaped early modern warfare.
Rodrigo Germanic for famous ruler; famously borne by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the Castilian commander known as El Cid.
George Greek for farmer, from ge, earth, and ergon, work; famously borne by George Washington, who led the Continental Army and then gave the power back.
Ulysses The Latin form of Odysseus; famously borne by Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general who won the Civil War and then fought the Klan as president.
Dwight An English surname from the medieval name Diot, a form of Dionysia; famously borne by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander on D-Day.
Douglas Scottish for dark river, from dubh and glas; famously borne by Douglas MacArthur, who commanded Allied forces in the Pacific.
Colin A diminutive of Nicholas, or from the Gaelic Cailean; famously borne by Colin Powell, general and the first Black US Secretary of State.
Norman Literally north man, the old name for Viking settlers in France; famously borne by Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded coalition forces in the Gulf War.
Bernard Germanic for brave as a bear; famously borne by Bernard Montgomery, the field marshal who turned the desert war at El Alamein.
Georgy The Russian form of George; famously borne by Georgy Zhukov, the marshal whose armies broke Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.
Lewis The English form of Louis, famous warrior; famously borne by Lewis Chesty Puller, the only Marine ever awarded five Navy Crosses.
Matthew Hebrew for gift of God; famously borne by Matthew Ridgway, the general who rebuilt a beaten army in Korea in a matter of weeks.
Themistocles Greek for glory of the law; famously borne by Themistocles, whose navy saved Greece at Salamis.
Xenophon Greek for foreign voice; famously borne by Xenophon, who helped lead ten thousand stranded Greeks home through hostile Persia and then wrote it down.
Tariq Arabic for night visitor or morning star; famously borne by Tariq ibn Ziyad, whose landing gave Gibraltar its name, Jabal Tariq.
Masashige A Japanese name often read as righteous and accomplished; famously borne by Kusunoki Masashige, who held Chihaya castle against an army many times his size.
Shivaji Honors the goddess Shivai, with the respectful suffix ji; famously borne by Shivaji, the Maratha king whose guerrilla war founded an empire.
Fei Chinese for to fly; famously borne by Yue Fei, the Song dynasty general revered across China as the model of loyalty.
Joan The feminine form of John; famously borne by Joan of Arc, the farm girl who rode at the head of the French army at seventeen.
Zenobia A Greek name often read as life of Zeus; famously borne by Zenobia of Palmyra, who took Egypt from Rome and very nearly kept it.
Tomoe A Japanese name for a swirling comma-shaped crest; famously borne by Tomoe Gozen, the woman samurai of The Tale of the Heike.
Lakshmibai Honors the goddess Lakshmi; famously borne by Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, who rode into battle against the British and did not come back.
Nzinga A Kimbundu name tied to a birth legend; famously borne by Queen Nzinga, who fought Portuguese colonization in Angola for thirty years.
Yaa An Akan day-name for a girl born on Thursday; famously borne by Yaa Asantewaa, who led the War of the Golden Stool against the British.
Artemisia A Greek name honoring the goddess Artemis; famously borne by Artemisia I of Caria, who commanded warships for Persia at Salamis and won even Greek admiration.
Grace Latin for grace or favor; famously borne by Grace O'Malley, the Irish sea captain who sailed to London in 1593 and won her case from Elizabeth I.
Khawlah Arabic for young doe or gazelle; famously borne by Khawlah bint al-Azwar, the warrior who fought at Yarmouk.
Amina An Arabic-derived name meaning trustworthy; famously borne by Queen Amina of Zazzau, the Hausa warrior queen whose city walls still bear her name.
Velu A Tamil name linked to vel, the spear of the god Murugan; famously borne by Velu Nachiyar, who took up arms against the East India Company.
Durgavati Sanskrit for one who has the qualities of Durga; famously borne by Rani Durgavati, who chose death on the battlefield over surrender to the Mughals.
Hao A Chinese name written in oracle-bone script; famously borne by Fu Hao, whose armies are recorded on those same bones and whose tomb was found intact.
Trac A Vietnamese name of debated meaning; famously borne by Trung Trac, who raised Vietnam against Han China and ruled it for three years.
Yu Chinese for feather; famously borne by Guan Yu, the general China deified, still honored at altars from Hong Kong to San Francisco.
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