1,895

7 new names for you. That leaves us with 1,895 left to learn this year. Which means as of today I have introduced you to 119 new names in 2014, and we're only halfway through the first month!

Girls

Iphigenia - Latin form of the Greek name Iphigeneia, which comes from "iphios" meaning "strong" or "stout" and "genes" meaning "born".

Jarlene - a feminine form of the Scandinavian name Jarl, meaning "chieftain" or "nobleman" or "earl". In Norse mythology he is the founder of a race of warriors and son of a god (Rig). I've heard this pronounced 'jar leen' around here, but Jarl is pronounced more like 'yarl', so 'yar leen' would also work. Apparently Erle is another feminine version of Jarl, so I suppose Erlene could be a variant of Jarlene. And therefore probably Arlene and Charlene are related names.


Kamala - Sanskrit, meaning "lotus" or "pale red". I've actually met a Kamala. The name was pronounced "KAHM uh luh".







Ladsie- so far I haven't been able to determine the origin or much of anything about this name. I got it from the name of a distant relative - Ladsie Lelia Maphis who was from Virginia.



Boys

Maynard - an English version of the German name Meginhard, which comes from "maga", meaning "strength" and 'hard' meaning 'hardy' or 'brave'.



Nebuchednezer - a Hebrew version of the Akkadian name Nabu-kudurri-usur, which, I would love to hear pronounced as the ancient Babylonians said the name. One of the names with a more elaborate meaning than most. Nabu was the god of wisdom - and the name for that god has its origin with the root 'nb' which meant "to name" or "to designate". So it could mean "announcer" or "herald" or it might mean "the one who is named" or "the one who is designated". Wikipedia lists the meaning of Nebuchednezer as "O god Nabu, preserve (defend) my first-born son". I like to think of it as "O god of wisdom, protect or defend my first-born son" or else as "O, One Named, protect or defend my first-born son" or even perhaps "O, infinite wisdom, defend my firstborn son". During the Middle Babylonian Period (1532 BC - 1000 B.C.) Nabu frequently becomes used as part of personal names. 

Otis - English surname which comes from the name Ode or Odo (now more oftenly written as Otto), which comes from the Germanic root 'od' meaning 'wealth' or 'fortune'.