Names That Mean Good or Kind

A soft and strong Indian name with a great meaning.

Kapono is seen as both a given name and a surname in Hawaii. One notable bearer is musician Kapono Beamer, from an influential Hawaiian family.

A simple, international name extremely popular in India. The word, meaning "song", also appears in the name of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text. Geeta is a spelling variant.

Sunita is an easily-translated name brought to the American lexicon by astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, who holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman.

Singer-actress Queen Latifah -- born Dana Owens -- makes this North African Muslim name sing.

One of the most popular Turkish girl names of the past generation.

U is an oft-rejected first initial, but a name like Uzoma makes it cool.

This rare name, used by a Byzantine saint, is not as attractive as other Greek "Eu" name like Eugenia, Eulalie and Eudora. This probably belongs in the footnotes of the history books.

A rare alternative to Tobias, with a lesser-known Biblical story.

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

A nickname for Gennady, a cool and unusual Russian boy name.

According to Buddhist eschatology, Maitreya is next great Buddha who will appear on Earth, following Gautama Buddha. Though this messianic figure is usually (if not exclusively) depicted as a male, the name sounds distinctly feminine to Western ears. It's quite a heavy mantle to lay on a child, though with far less subtle names, such as Messiah, Royalty and Savior, on the rise, that may be waning as a cause for concern.

The Good Witch's first cousin.

Both a surname and a given name in Arabic, Fayad is a strong option which works well internationally.

The modern Icelandic form of Guðmundr, an Old Norse name derived from gud, which meant both "good" and "god," and mund>, "protection." Guðmundur is currently a Top 10 boy name in Iceland.

From the root that gives us "benign," Benigno is not as accessible in English-speaking cultures as such names as Bruno and Benicio. Filipino Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., went by his nickname Ninoy.