Names with Military Meanings
- Gudrun
Origin:
ScandinavianMeaning:
"god's rune; secret battle"Description:
Difficult name familiar here mainly via D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love.
- Ouisa
Origin:
Diminutive of LouisaMeaning:
"renowned warrior"Description:
Wheezy short form of lovely name, featured in the movie "Steel Magnolias." Go for Lou or Lulu instead.
- Quirino
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"a spearman, a warrior"Description:
An adolescent boy might have problems with the first syllable.
- Ajamu
Origin:
Nigerian, YorubanMeaning:
"he fights for his desires"Description:
Rhythmic name sometimes associated with calypso singer King Ajamu.
- Tew
Origin:
CelticMeaning:
"warrior god"Description:
Tew many conflicting word spellings.
- Macarthur
Origin:
ScottishMeaning:
"son of Arthur"Description:
The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art
- Bathilda
Origin:
GermanicMeaning:
"battle"Description:
Derived from the Germanic element badu "battle" combined with Old Norse hildr "battle", this name belonged to a 7th-century English saint who became queen of the Franks after being sold to them as a slave.
- Humbert
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"renowned warrior"Description:
A name with two strong literary associations, one overwhelmingly negative -- Lolita's pedophilic narrator Humbert Humbert -- and one positive, in the preferable European version: Italian author Umberto Eco.
- Villads
Origin:
DanishMeaning:
"desiring battle"Description:
From the land that brought us Viggo, we now have Villads. Not as punchy as the romantic sounding Viggo, but infinitely better than the name it derives from: Willehadus.
- Perses
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"destroyer"Description:
In Greek mythology, Perses was a Titan and the father of Hecate, goddess of magic and the Underworld. His name derives from Ancient Greek pertho ("to destroy").
- Hartwig
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"courageous in battle"Description:
Baby-naming rule #984: forget any name that contains the syllable wig.
- Pendleton
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"overhanging settlement"Description:
Pembroke's brother.
- Vigga
Origin:
ScandinavianMeaning:
"war/battle"Description:
While Americans may be more familiar with the male form of this name, thanks to actor Viggo Mortensen, Vigga is a popular name in contemporary Denmark and prime for wider export. It's a name with a a lot of vigor.
- Villard
Origin:
French from GermanMeaning:
"battle fortress"Description:
Creative surname choice, associated with the great French postimpressionist Edouard Villard.
- Sergeant
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"to serve"Description:
Sargent, as in Kennedy brother-in-law Shriver, is the more familiar and usable form of this name.
- Gunilla
Origin:
SwedishMeaning:
"battle maiden"Description:
This popular old Swedish name is not one that would appeal to many modern American parents, though shortening it to Nilla helps.
- Thurber
Origin:
NorseMeaning:
"Thor the warrior"Description:
Pleasant surname connected to humorist James Thurber, with a sound as happy as a baby's gurgle.
- Connery
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"warrior-lord"Description:
Irish surname-names are hugely popular for girls in the US these days, with Riley and Kennedy ranking high on the official popularity lists. Connery is uncommon, but certainly attractive and usable.