Names That Mean Hope

Yu the Great founded China's first dynasty, but in this country "Hey, you!" would make this name utterly confusing, in an Abbott and Costello way.

Many Americans will misunderstand it as Maya, but Maayan (also stylized as Ma'ayan) is a popular Israeli name used for both sexes.

This name has two origins: the English word Dusk, meaning evening twilight and the Czech name for girls Duška meaning "soul or spirit". Either way, this is an interesting name with some potential.

Kazuki is related to names like Kazuko, Kazuo and Kazumi

A worthy update for Imani.

Lucasta was invented by seventeenth century poet Richard Lovelace for a collection of poems dedicated to a lover named Lucy, and is familiar through the Eugene O'Neill play and film Anna Lucasta. Lucasta is a distinctive, rarely used choice and a logical extension of the Luke/Luc/Luca names.

One way to spin grandma Helen or Ellen's name off the beaten track. The legendary Azenor was a tragic 6th century Breton princess who was mother to a saint. This personage also may be known as Senara.

A word name with an appealing and illuminating meaning.

Though this name is used for both boys and girls in Israel, in the U.S. it sounds decidedly masculine, with Zohara the feminine form. Has a futuristic macho feel.

Spring doesn't sound half as contemporary as Winter, which has become the cool season name.

Related to the more common Solana, Salana has a pleasantly rhythmic pan-cultural feel.

Clarimond is related to the Occitan name Esclarmonde, and is probably the more wearable of the two variations.

A possible new entry in the Hayden-Corbin two-syllable boys' name club.

A Czech surname derived from the word for "green", which has a certain spark.

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns. "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

Unfashionable surname, best left in the forest with Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

A common Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean unisex name, and the name of a culturally rich Chinese Dynastic period. Yao Ming is the seven and a half foot Shanghai-born basketball star. Trivia tidbit: His parents were the tallest couple in China at the time of his birth.

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability.

A li'l hell-raiser name in the Ryder-Rogue-Rebel vein.

The graceful Indian Suria or Surya may remind Americans more of little Miss Suri Cruise than of the pantheon of Hindi gods and goddesses.