What names have meanings connected with water?
River and Lluvia offer two names connected with water. River names a flowing body of water in English, while Lluvia means "rain" in Spanish.
Explore the names below and follow any name to its full history.
Selin Turkish · river, flowing water
Sarita Sanskrit · river, the flowing one; a parent-generation staple that also matches Spanish Sarita, little Sara, a happy accident in US classrooms
River English · flowing water
Fon Thai · rain
Moe Burmese · rain, sky (မိုး); a Thursday-letter name for boys and girls alike. In the US it lands as the friendly American nickname Moe, an easy bridge for a Burmese name
Hà Vietnamese · river
Giang Vietnamese · river
Nam Thai · water
Salil Bengali · water
Thuy Vietnamese · water; gentle
Rio Spanish · means 'river' in Spanish and Portuguese; a separate Japanese name uses several possible kanji combinations
Clyde Scottish · river name
Moses Hebrew · drawn out of water
Niloufar Persian · water lily, lotus
Irving Scottish · from the River Irvine, green water
Phirun Khmer · gentle rain; from Varuna, the Indic god of rain and waters
Yagmur Turkish · rain (Yağmur)
Raine English · modern coinage evoking 'rain'; also a short form of Regina or Lorraine
Amaya Basque · variant of Amaia, from Basque amaia, the end
Lake English · from the English word for a body of water
Yunxi Chinese · clouds over a mountain stream (雲溪)
Remington English · place name/surname, "settlement on the raven's stream"
Shannon Irish · traditionally old, wise river
Rayne English · modern variant spelling of the word Rain
Mazhai Tamil · rain (Tamil)
Siwoo Korean · poem and rain (a lyrical modern name combo)
Lluvia Spanish · Spanish word for 'rain'
Beckham English · surname/place name, "homestead by the stream"
Brook English · English word name for a small stream
Yuqing Chinese · rain clearing to sunshine (雨晴)
Sude Turkish · pure water; from a beloved Turkish poem
Musa Arabic · Arabic form of Moses appearing in the Quran; Moses is most likely from Egyptian mes, "son" (the "drew out" reading is the Old Testament's own gloss)
Vu Vietnamese · rain (also a common surname)
Tuyen Vietnamese · a ray or line (as Tuyến), or spring water (as the feminine Tuyền)
Trent English · from the River Trent; flooding river
Wailani Hawaiian · heavenly water
Vellamo Finnish · the Kalevala's goddess of water, lakes, and seas; from velloa, "to churn", describing the movement of waves
Winford Old English · an English place and surname name, from elements read as friend and ford, or possibly white stream
Jiwoo Korean · ambition and universe, or rain, in common hanja
Wade English · surname/place name, "to ford, river crossing"
Nahla Arabic · traditionally 'first drink of water'
Yordanos Amharic · Ethiopian form of Jordan, the river
Wilford English · Old English compound of willow and ford, a river crossing; a place name and surname before becoming a first name.
Douglas Scottish · dark river
Sindhu Telugu · the Indus, the great river of Sanskrit tradition; carried onto every Telugu sports page by the Hyderabad badminton champion P. V. Sindhu
Tallulah Native-American · leaping water, from a Native American place name
Jordy Hebrew · nickname for Jordan, to flow down (the river)
Jordin Hebrew · variant spelling of Jordan, 'to flow down,' after the river
Shanon Modern American · A respelling of Shannon, Ireland's longest river, from Gaelic sean, 'old, wise one'.
Jhilmil Bengali · sparkle, glitter, twinkle, especially the shimmer of light on water or stars
Moshe Hebrew · form of Moses, traditionally "drawn out of water"
Clodagh Irish · named for a river goddess in Irish mythology
Sanford English · English place name/surname, 'sandy river crossing'
Beverly English · from an English place name meaning 'beaver stream' or 'beaver meadow'
Rayford English · An English surname, likely from raed, counsel, and ford, river crossing, or from the place name Radford
Ichamati Bengali · a river of the Bengal delta on the India-Bangladesh border; from Bengali/Sanskrit iccha (wish, desire) and mati (mind), "the river of its own will," for its history of shifting course
Carey Welsh · from a Welsh river name, or an Irish surname
Lam Cantonese · fine jade (琳) for girls or steady rain (霖) for boys; the modern closing element in names like Hoi-Lam
Ford English · place name/surname meaning 'river crossing'
Mose Samoan · Samoan form of Moses: drawn out of the water
Mazen Arabic · rain clouds (a spelling of Mazin)
Ahti Finnish · the Finnish god of water and fishing; in the Kalevala he appears as Ahto to avoid confusion with the hero Ahti Saarelainen
Jourdan Hebrew · French spelling of Jordan, from Hebrew Yarden, to flow down, the river where John baptized Jesus.
Nadeesha Sinhala · a modern coinage built on Sanskrit nadi, river, in the popular -eesha fashion of the 1980s-90s
Jordynn Hebrew · feminine respelling of Jordan, from the biblical river, 'to flow down'
Neha Sanskrit and Hindi · Sanskrit and Hindi name generally meaning rain or love; famously borne by Neha Narkhede, co-founder of Confluent.
Nile Greek · from the Nile River, name of Greek origin (Neilos)
India English · from the country name India, itself from the Indus River
Shannan Modern American · A 1970s spelling of Shannon, the Irish river name from Sionann, granddaughter of the sea god Lir in myth.
Beck English · English surname meaning 'stream', from Old Norse bekkr
Jorden Hebrew · variant spelling of Jordan, from the Jordan River, 'to flow down'
Anahita Persian · ancient Zoroastrian goddess of water and fertility
Beverley English · From the English place name Beverley in Yorkshire, meaning beaver stream or beaver clearing.
Jordon Hebrew · variant spelling of Jordan, from the River Jordan, traditionally 'to flow down'
Wilburn English · English habitational surname from a place meaning willow stream, later used as a given name.
Kendall English · place name, "valley of the river Kent"
Irvin Scottish · variant of Irving, green water
Vaigai Tamil · the river running through Madurai, celebrated in Sangam-era Tamil poetry
Cary Welsh · variant of Carey, from a Welsh river name
Kendal English · place name, "valley of the River Kent"
Monroe Scottish · surname, "mouth of the river Roe"
Ponni Tamil · a classical poetic name for the Kaveri river, from Tamil "pon" (gold); popularized by the historical novel Ponniyin Selvan
Aila Scottish · variant of Isla, from the Scottish river name
Mozelle Uncertain · Disputed: possibly a feminine name honoring Moses, drawn from the water, or from Moselle, the French river name.
Yeon-woo Korean · commonly glossed as lotus and rain (unisex)
Crawford Scottish · Scottish surname, 'crow ford, river crossing'
Ayrton English · farm on the River Aire (English surname and place name); famously borne by F1 legend Ayrton Senna
Kelvin Scottish · from the River Kelvin in Scotland, of uncertain Celtic origin; Brazil's 2000s wave pick, a Kevin with an L of its own
Iyla Scottish · variant of Isla, from Islay, the Scottish island name
Moises Hebrew · Spanish and Portuguese form of Moses; 'drawn from the water' in the Bible's telling, though scholars favor Egyptian mes, 'son'
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