Names That Mean Man

  1. Fanny
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Frances
    • Meaning:

      "free man"
    • Description:

      As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.
  2. Lamont
    • Origin:

      Scandinavian
    • Meaning:

      "man of law"
    • Description:

      Outmoded comic book choice.
  3. Francie
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Frances, English from Latin
    • Meaning:

      "from France; free man"
    • Description:

      Francie is one of the most neglected nicknames for Frances, despite having more style value than Franny and Fanny and being more unique than Frankie. We'd love to see it get more use, whether as a Frances short form or as an independent name.
  4. Cisco
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Spanish Francisco
    • Meaning:

      "Frenchman or free man"
    • Description:

      Shortening Francisco somehow makes it sound even cooler. Cisco is also the name of a digital security company.
  5. Slim
    • Origin:

      English word name or diminutive of Slimane, Arabic
    • Meaning:

      "man of peace"
    • Description:

      Slim may be too on-the-nose for the child of two beautiful models, but it's the name Nara Pellman and Lucky Blue Smith chose for their son, Slim Easy. Smith, who has daughters named Gravity Blue and Rumble Honey, is known for choosing outrageous word names. But Slim — when pronounced as "SLEEM" — can also be a short form of the Arabic name Slimane. This origin is shared with Pellman's middle name, Aziza.
  6. Adrianna
    • Origin:

      Feminine variation of Adrian
    • Meaning:

      "man of Adria"
    • Description:

      A popular spelling variation of Adriana.
  7. Kazuo
    • Origin:

      Japanese
    • Meaning:

      "first son or harmonious man"
    • Description:

      Kazuo is a boys' name well-used in Japan though not well-known in the U.S. Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. The emphasis is on the first syllable.
  8. Hattak
    • Origin:

      Choctaw, Native American
    • Meaning:

      "man"
    • Description:

      The double Ts are pronounced with a slight pause between them like in "nighttime."
  9. Charlee
    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Charlie, diminutive of Charles or Charlotte
    • Meaning:

      "free man"
    • Description:

      Charlie in all its forms has been a popular gender neutral name since the early 2000s and is now given almost equally to girls and boys. While it did once lean more (statistically) masculine, it has been used on girls too since the before the 20th century.
  10. Ladd
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "manservant, young man"
    • Description:

      Seems like a redundant name for a lad.
  11. Osmo
    • Origin:

      Finnish
    • Meaning:

      "young man"
    • Description:

      Cosmo's Finnish cousin.
  12. Amadi
    • Origin:

      African
    • Meaning:

      "free man"
    • Description:

      Though this is traditionally a male name, it can work for a girl in our culture. Might also be considered a short form of the Italian Amadea.
  13. Andromache
    • Origin:

      Greek,"battle of man"
    • Meaning:

      "battle of man"
    • Description:

      Andromache is a name found scattered throughout ancient literature. She was Hector's long-suffering wife in The Iliad and The Odyssey, featured in The Trojan Women and Andromache by Euripides, then later appeared in Shakepeare's Troilus and Cressida, and Jean Racine's 1667 play Andromaque. It is not likely to make many appearances in the modern world.
  14. Franny
    • Origin:

      Latin, diminutive of Frances
    • Meaning:

      "from France or free man"
    • Description:

      If Frances and Fran are too serious for you, and Fanny too saucy, you might like Franny, still identified by some with J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey stories.
  15. Androgeus
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "man of the earth"
    • Description:

      Androgeus was a Cretan prince—the son of King Minos. He is known for being murdered in Athens, although the way in which he died is contested.
  16. Lukah
    • Origin:

      Variation of Luca, Italian
    • Meaning:

      "man from Lucania"
    • Description:

      One of the many rising variations of Luca.
  17. Keyne
    • Origin:

      Cornish variation of Kane
    • Meaning:

      "man of the eastern sky"
    • Description:

      This name is unusual enough that the spelling variation won't be too much of a further complication. While the Biblical cognate Cain may be more classic, this removes the name from any negative associations.
  18. Gary
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "spear man"
    • Description:

      While not generally thought of as unisex, this is a male name that, like Perry and Barry, has occasionally been used for girls over the years.
  19. Deianira
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "man destroyer"
    • Description:

      The name of Hercules' third wife in Greek mythology, who unwittingly killed her demigod husband by giving him a poisoned shirt. Hence the meaning. Dayanara -- as in "Orange is the New Black" character Diaz and Puerto Rican beauty Torres -- may be a distant relation.
  20. Amadi
    • Origin:

      African
    • Meaning:

      "free man"
    • Description:

      This name from the Igbo language of Africa, which feels like the more-familiar Arabic Ahmad, might be an original and attractive choice.