HAGAR (f) "to forsake" from Arabic hajara. In the Old Testament she was the concubine of Abraham and the mother of Ishmael, the founder of the Arab people. After Abraham's wife Sarah finally gave birth to a child, she had Hagar and Ishmael expelled into the desert. However, God heard their crying and saved them.

HAILEY (f) Form of HAYLEY

HALEIGH (f) Form of HAYLEY

HALEY (f) Form of HAYLEY

HAMID (m) Form of MUHAMMAD

HAMILTON (m) "flat hill" (Old English), from a surname which was from a the name of a town in England (which no longer exists). A famous bearer of the surname was Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of the United States who was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.

HAMISH (m) Scottish form of JAMES

HAMMOND (m) "home protection" (Old English) or "high protection" (Old Norse)

HAMON (m) French form of HAMMOND

HANA (f) Feminine form of HANI

HANAA (f) Form of HANA

HANI (m) "happy" from Arabic hani'a.

HANIYYA (f) Feminine form of HANI

HANK (m) From a short form of Hankin which was a medieval pet form of JOHN. This name is also used as a pet form of HENRY. Visit a web page devoted to the name Hank.

HANNA (f) Form of HANNAH

HANNAH (f) "favour" or "grace" (Hebrew). She was the mother of Samuel the prophet in the Old Testament. This is the origin of the name ANNA

HANNES (m) Short form of JOHANNES

HANNIBAL (m) "grace of Baal" (Phoenician). Baal was a Phoenician deity. Hannibal was the Carthaginian general who threatened Rome during the Second Punic War in the 3rd century BC.

HANS (m) Danish, Dutch and German form of JOHN. Hans Holbien was a Renaissance portrait painter from Germany. Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer of fairy tales.

HARALD (m) Scandinavian and German form of HAROLD

HARLAN (m) "army land" (Teutonic).

HARLEY (m,f) "hare clearing" from Old English hara "hare" and leah "clearing". From a surname.

HAROLD (m) "leader of the army" from Old English haer "army" and weald "leader". This was the name of five kings of Norway and two kings of England, including Harold II, who lost the Battle of Hastings (and was killed in it), which led to the Norman Conquest.

HARRIET (f) Feminine form of HARRY. A famous bearer of this name was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the American author who wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.

HARRISON (m) "descendent of HARRY" (Old English). From a surname. The actor Harrison Ford of 'Star Wars', 'Indiana Jones', and other movies is among the most famous bearers of this name.

HARRY (m) Form of HENRY

HARTMUT (m) "hardy mind" from Teutonic hart "strong" or "hardy" and muot "spirit" or "mind".

HARTWIG (m) "hardy battle" (Teutonic)

HARVEY (m) "battle worthy" from Celtic haer "battle" and viu "worthy". From a surname, which itself derived from a Breton first name that was introduced to England after the Norman Conquest.

HARVIE (m) Form of HARVEY

HASAN (m) "good" from Arabic hasuna "to be good". Al-Hasan was the son of Fatima and the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. He was poisoned by one of his wives and is regarded as a martyr by Shiite Muslims.

HASKEL (m) Yiddish form of EZEKIEL

HASSAN (f) Form of HASAN. This was the name of two kings of Morocco.

HATTIE (f) Pet form of HARRIET

HAUKEA (f) "white snow" from Hawaiian hau "snow" and kea "white".

HAVA (f) Modern Hebrew form of EVE

HAYDEN (m) "heathen" (Teutonic). From a surname.

HAYLEY (f) "hay clearing" from Old English heg "hay" and leah "clearing". From a surname which was from the name of a town in England.

HAZAEL (m) "one that sees God" (Hebrew). The name of a king of Aram in the Old Testament.

HAZEL (f) "hazel" (English), from the name of the tree or the light-brown colour.

HEATH (m) "heath" (Old English), from a surname that denoted one who lived on a heath.

HEATHER (f) "heather" from Middle English hather, the name of a small shrub with pink or white flowers that commonly grows in rocky areas.

HEBER (m) Either "enclave" (Hebrew) or an Anglicized form of EIBHEAR

HECTOR (m) "stay" or "restrain" from Greek ekhein. Hector was a champion from Troy in Greek legend. Homer's 'Iliad' tells how Achilles brutally killed Hector during the Trojan War.

HEDDA (f) Scandinavian feminine form of HEDWIG. This is the name of the heroine of the play 'Hedda Gabler' by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen.

HEDWIG (f) "contention war" (Teutonic)

HEIDI (f) Short form of ADALHEID. Heidi is the name of the title character in the children's story by Johanna Spyri.

HEIDRUN (f) Possibly "person secret" (Teutonic)

HEIKE (f) Dutch pet form of HENRIKE

HEIKO (m) Dutch pet form of HENRIK

HEINER (m) Short form of HEINRICH

HEINRICH (m) German form of HENRY. This was the name of several German kings.

HEINZ (m) Short form of HEINRICH

HELDER (m) "clear" or "pure" (Dutch), from the name of the Dutch town of Den Helder. This name is commonly used in Portugal.

HELEN (f) "sun" from Greek helios. In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. Saint Helena was the mother of Emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem. Another famous bearer was Helen Keller, the American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.

HELGA (f) Feminine form of HELGE

HELGE (m) "prosperous" or "happy" or "holy" from Old Norse heill.

HELIODORO (m) "gift of the sun" (Greek)

HELMUT (m) "helmet spirit" from Teutonic helm "helmet" and muot "spirit" or "mind".

HENDERSON (m) "son of HENRY" (Middle English), from a Scottish surname.

HENNING (m) From a surname that derived from a pet form of HENRIK

HENRIK (m) Low German and Scandinavian form of HENRY

HENRIKE (f) German and Scandinavian feminine form of HENRY

HENRY (m) "home ruler" (Teutonic). This name was introduced into Britain by the Normans. It was borne eight kings of England including the infamous Henry VIII, as well as six kings of France and seven kings of Germany. Other famous bearers include arctic naval explorer Henry Hudson, novelist Henry James, and automobile manufacturer Henry Ford.

HEPHZIBAH (f) "my delight is in her" (Hebrew). She was a queen and the mother of Manasseh in the Old Testament.

HERACLES (m) "glory of Hera" (Greek). He was a hero in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. He completed twelve labours in order to become a god.

HERBERT (m) "army bright" (Teutonic). Introduced to Britain by the Normans.

HERCULES (m) Latin form of HERACLES

HERMAN (m) "army man" (Teutonic). Herman Melville was the author who wrote 'Moby Dick'.

HERMES (m) Meaning unknown (Greek). In Greek mythology Hermes was a god associated with speed and good luck, who served as a messenger to Zeus. He was also the patron of travellers, writers, athletes, merchants, thieves and orators.

HERMINE (f) German feminine form of HERMAN

HERMIONE (f) "of Hermes" (Greek). Hermes was the Greek god of speed and good luck. In Greek myth Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. This was also the name of the wife of Leontes in Shakespeare's play 'The Winter's Tale'.

HERON (m) "heron" (English), from the name of the bird.

HERVE (m) French form of HARVEY

HIAWATHA (m) "he makes rivers" (American Indian) from Iroquoian Haio-hwa'tha. This was the name of the Mohawk leader who founded the Iroquois League.

HIDEAKI (m) "wise" (Japanese)

HIERONYMUS (f) Latin form of JEROME used in Germany and Holland. Hieronymus Bosch was a 15th-century Dutch painter known for his depictions of the torments of hell.

HILAIRE (m) French form of HILARY

HILARY (f,m) "cheerful" from Latin hilaris, or perhaps "protector" (Teutonic). Saint Hilary was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Poitiers.

HILBERT (m) "battle bright" (Teutonic)

HILDA (f) Short form of names containing Teutonic hild "battle".

HILDEGARD (f) "battle guard" from Teutonic hild "battle" and gard "guard".

HILDEGARDE (f) French form of HILDEGARD

HILLARY (f,m) Variant of HILARY. A famous bearer of the surname is Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest.

HINRICH (m) Form of HEINRICH

HIRAM (m) Meaning unknown (Phoenician) or possibly "brother of the exalted" from Hebrew Ahiram. Hiram was a king of Tyre in the Old Testament.

HIROSHI (m) "generous" (Japanese)

HOLDEN (m) "deep valley" (Old English), from a surname or a place name. This was the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye'.

HOLGER (m) "island spear" (Teutonic)

HOLLY (f) "holly" (English) from the name of the tree.

HOMER (m) "pledge" (Greek). Homer was the Greek epic poet who wrote the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' in the 12th century BC.

HONG (f,m) "rose" (Vietnamese)

HOPE (f) "hope" (English). This name was first created by the Puritans.

HORACE (m) "good eyesight" from the Latin Horatius. This was the name of a Roman lyric poet of the 1st century BC.

HORATIA (f) Feminine form of HORACE

HORATIO (m) Variant of HORACE. A famous bearer of the name was the British admiral Horatio Nelson.

HORMAZD (m) Form of HORMAZED

HORMAZED (m) "lord of wisdom" (Persian)

HORST (m) "wood" (German)

HOTAKA (m) Japanese; from the name of a mountain.

HOWARD (m) The meaning of this name is unknown, but there are several theories: "heart brave", "high warden", or "ewe herder" (Teutonic). This was originally the surname of a noble family of England.

HOYT (m) "shining mind"? (Teutonic)

HUBERT (m) "heart bright" or "mind bright" (Teutonic). The 8th-century Saint Hubert is the patron saint of hunters.

HUGH (m) From Teutonic hug, meaning "heart, mind, or spirit". This name is also used as the Anglicized form of the Gaelic names AODH, UISDEAN, or EOGHAN. Hugh Capet was a 10th-century king of France who founded the Capetian dynasty. Saint Hugh of Lincoln was a 12th-century bishop known for his charity.

HUGO (m) Form of HUGH. As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo, the writer of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'Les Miserables'.

HULDA (f) "sweet" (Scandinavian)

HUMBERT (m) "warrior famous" (Teutonic). This was the name of two kings of Italy.

HUMPHREY (m) "house peace" (Old English). A famous bearer of this name was the American actor Humphrey Bogart, who starred in 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'Casablanca'.

HUNG (m) "brave" or "heroic" (Vietnamese)

HUNTER (m) "hunter" from an English surname that originally belonged to one who was a hunter.

HUW (m) Welsh form of HUGH

HYACINTH (f) English; from the name of the flower. The flower is so named because in a Greek legend it arose from the blood of a youth named Hyakinthos.

HYMAN (m) "man" (Yiddish)

HYUN-OK (f) "wise pearl" (Korean) .