Names That Mean King
27 names whose etymology relates to “king” — drawn from documented origins, sorted by all-time U.S. popularity.
RichardFrom Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus, Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rī…
CharlesFrom French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, from and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free ma…
EricFrom Middle English Eric, from Old English Eoric, from Old Norse Eirríkr, Eiríkr (from ei (“always, eternal”, see aye) +‎ ríkr (“ruler”)), or from Proto-Germanic *Aizarīkija…
ArthurAPI From the name of the legendary king, from Middle English Arthure, from Medieval Latin Arthurus, probably from Middle Welsh arth (“bear”). Other suggestions include Old Welsh…
RoyFrom various sources: * Anglo-Norman roy (“king”) a variant of Old French roi, from Latin rēx, rēgem from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of Rey. * Scottish…
FrederickFrom German Friedrich, Friederich and influenced by Latin Friderīcus, Frederīcus, from Old High German Fridurih, from Frankish *Friþurīk, from Proto-Germanic *Friþurīks, from *f…
EdwinInherited from Old English Ēadwine, from Proto-West Germanic *Audawini, from Proto-Germanic *Audawiniz. Akin to Old Norse Auðun, Icelandic Auðunn, German Otwin, Norwegian Audun,…
JesusFrom Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Jos…
OscarExact origin uncertain. Resuscitated by James Mcpherson in The Works of Ossian (1765). Napoleon, an admirer of the Ossianic poems, chose it for his godson Oscar Bernadotte, who …
RayAs an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surna…
LeroyTransferred from the common French surname Leroy, meaning "the king".
LydiaBorrowed from Ancient Greek Λυδία (Ludía, “the region of Lydia”), from λυδία (ludía, “beautiful one, noble one”), a feminine form of Λυδός (Ludós) (Lydus, from λυδός (ludós) (ly…
AubreyFrom Middle English Aubrey, Aubry, from Norman Auberi, Alberi, from Latin Alberīcus, Latinized form of Old High German Alberich, from Proto-Germanic *Albirīks, from *albiz (“elf…
NinaBorrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), the name of a Georgian saint in the fourth century…
BrendanAnglicized form of the name of Irish saints, Irish Bréanainn (via Latin Brendanus), from Old Irish Brénainn, from Old Welsh breenhin (“prince, king”), ultimately from Proto-Celt…
RexFrom Latin rēx (“king”). Doublet of rajah and roy.
RoryAnglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Ruairidh and Irish Ruairí (“red-haired king”), from Old Irish Ruaidrí (“red king”).
LynetteAnglicized form of Welsh Eluned, first used by Tennyson in the Idylls of the King(1859-85), altered by folk etymology to be Lynn +‎ -ette.
CedricInvented by Walter Scott for Ivanhoe, possibly misread for Cerdic, name of a Saxon king, anglicized from Welsh caredig (“beloved”), in which case a doublet of Caradoc, Caradog, …
BrodieScottish habitational surname of uncertain meaning. Probably of Pictish or Gaelic origin. Some of the suggestions that have been advanced as to the meaning of the name Brodie ar…
PrincetonFrom prince +‎ -ton (“town”)API, originally in honor of crown princes or princes of the British Empire but later chiefly in honor of others with the name Prince or locations…
MagnusBorrowed from Latin magnus (“great”), taken from the title of Carolus Magnus "Charlemagne" by an eleventh century king of Norway, and brought to Scotland in medieval times.
KhaleesiBorrowed from Dothraki khaleesi (“queen”), feminine of khal (“king”). Coined by American writer and television producer George R. R. Martin for the title of the character Daener…
BartholomewFrom Latin Bartholomaeus, from Ancient Greek Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaîos), from Aramaic בר תלמי (bar tolmai, “son of Talmai; son of Ptolemy”), from בר (bar, “son”) and תלמי (tol…
ClovisBorrowed from French Clovis, from Frankish *Hlōdowig, the same Germanic source as French Louis, Dutch Lodewijk and German Ludwig, see there for further information. Doublet of L…
RaniFrom Sanskrit राज्ञी (rājñī, “a queen, princess, the wife of a king”), through Hindi रानी (rānī).
EdrickFrom Old English Ēadrīc, from Proto-Germanic *Audarīks, from *audaz (“wealth, riches”) + *rīks (“king, ruler”).
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Etymologies adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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