Every Name in the World —
meaning, origin, and beauty
Discover baby names from every culture with authentic meanings, native pronunciations, and cultural depth. From Arabic to Sanskrit, Latin to English, Persian to Hebrew — thoughtfully explained by native speakers and reviewed by cultural experts.
A naming reference built for the whole world
Choosing a name is one of the most consequential decisions any parent makes. It carries a child's identity, family history, and cultural belonging into every room they'll ever enter. Yet the biggest baby-name sites on the internet — some of them fifteen or twenty years old — still treat non-Western names as afterthoughts, offering shallow one-paragraph entries where a name's real depth deserves a page of its own.
All Names Guide is different. We treat every naming culture with the same care: Arabic and Persian names get the same depth as Latin and English ones. Sanskrit, Yoruba, Hebrew, Celtic, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin — each culture's names are researched, written, and reviewed by people who know them intimately. Every meaning is sourced. Every religiously significant name is reviewed by a scholar whose name and credentials appear on the page. When a meaning is disputed, we say so. When it's uncertain, we say so. We never invent etymology.
Whether you're an expecting parent researching over months of pregnancy, a writer looking for authentic character names, or someone curious about the meaning of your own name, this site is built to give you the depth you're looking for — presented beautifully, organized by origin, meaning, letter, or curated theme.
Names from every culture on earth
Each culture's naming tradition is a world of its own. Explore the origins that speak to your family's story.
Names parents are researching now
Rising in searches this week, drawn from our global database of expecting-parent activity.
Find a name that means what matters to you
Whether you're drawn to a virtue, an element of nature, or something spiritual, meaning-first browsing pulls together names from every culture.
Handpicked lists for every kind of family
Themed collections curated by our editorial team — perfect for pinning, sharing, or shortlisting.
Elegant Arabic girl names with radiant meanings — from timeless classics like Zainab to modern favorites like Layan.
Powerful Arabic boy names rooted in warrior tradition, faith, and virtue — including Hamza, Faisal, and Tariq.
Sanskrit girl names carrying meanings of divinity, grace, and light — Ananya, Divya, Priya, and beyond.
The universal theme of light, expressed in Arabic (Noor), Sanskrit (Deepak), Hebrew (Uri), Latin (Lucia), and more.
The most-searched Muslim baby names of the year — a curated blend of classical Islamic tradition and modern favorites.
Beautiful, meaningful names hiding just beneath the mainstream — for parents who want distinctive without difficult.
Try our name generator
Not sure where to begin? Set a few preferences and let our generator surface names you might love.
Your suggested name will appear here…
Deep dives into naming traditions
Cultural context, ceremony, history. Written by native speakers and reviewed by scholars.
From Aqiqah to the significance of prophetic names, a guided tour through 1,400 years of Islamic naming practice.
The Namkaran ceremony, nakshatra-based naming, and the deep Sanskrit roots that shape modern Hindu names.
Why Persian names carry the cadence of poetry, and how Rumi, Hafez, and Ferdowsi still shape the names of children today.
Should siblings share initials, syllable counts, or cultural roots? Five approaches to naming that hold a family together.
Sister sites in our naming and culture network
All Names Guide is part of a family of reference sites. When you need deeper coverage in a specific area, these are the places to go.
Our sister site dedicated exclusively to Muslim naming — with the fullest coverage of Quranic names, prophetic companions, and the rich naming traditions of the wider ummah.
Visit MuslimBabyNames →Country profiles for every nation on earth — including popular names, cultural traditions, and demographic context. The perfect companion when a name is tied to a place.
Visit NationsAtlas →About All Names Guide
All Names Guide covers every naming culture with the same depth — not just Western Anglo-Christian names. Our team includes native speakers of Arabic, Urdu, and Persian, and religiously significant names are reviewed by cultural experts whose credentials appear on the page. Existing name sites typically give non-Western names shallow one-paragraph treatments; we treat every culture with the depth its names deserve.
Yes. Every meaning is sourced from standard name dictionaries and cultural references, with sources cited at the bottom of each name page. Religiously significant names (Arabic Islamic, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and others) are reviewed by scholars whose names and credentials are displayed. If a meaning is disputed, we say so. If a meaning is uncertain, we say so. We never invent etymology. Read more about our approach in our editorial policy and cultural sensitivity policy.
Yes, and we expand continuously. Our launch coverage focuses on Arabic, Sanskrit, Latin, English, Persian, Urdu, African (Yoruba, Igbo, Swahili, Amharic, Zulu), Hebrew, Celtic (Irish, Scottish, Welsh), Japanese, Korean, and Chinese naming traditions. Smaller and indigenous naming traditions are added as we recruit qualified cultural reviewers to ensure accuracy and respect.
Every individual name page includes IPA notation, an anglicized pronunciation, a native pronunciation, and an audio player button so you can hear the name spoken correctly. For names with multiple regional pronunciations (like Ahmed in Arabic versus Ahmet in Turkish), each variant is presented separately.
Yes — all naming content, tools, and educational articles are completely free. We support the site through display ads and optional premium products like curated printable name collections and downloadable ebooks for parents who want a keepsake resource.