Gender Neutral Names That Mean Patience, Brave & More

The rise of gender-neutral names is notable in the past few years. As such, I have hand-picked gender neutral names that means patience, brave, kindness, benevolent, friend, and more.

Gender Neutral Names That Mean Patience

Galen

”Calm,” ”patient,” or “tranquil,” and is from Greek Galenos.

Shalev

Tranquil.

Shiloh

Shiloh (”tranquil”) is an Old Testament town that housed the Ark of the Covenant.

Stellan

“Peaceful one” or “calm.” Stellan is used frequently in Sweden.

Sufferance

”Enduring hardship” or ”the power to endure.”

Shinobu

”Endurance,” written with 忍, the kanji in shinobi, a word for ninja.

Halcyon

Calm, and a poetic word for a kingfisher.

Ndidi

”Patience,” in Igbo. Say it n-DEE-dee.

Brave

Casey

”Brave” or ”vigilant.” Casey comes from the Irish Gaelic ”cathasaigh.”

Valor

Worth, courage, or bravery and has Latin roots.

Emery

”Brave.”

Drew

It comes from Greek andreios, manly and courageous.

Orvyn

Orvyn has Old English and Old Norse origins and means brave friend or friend of the boar.

Archie

”Truly brave.” Archie is a diminutive of Archibald which is from Old High German Erkanbald.

Koa

”Brave,” and a Hawaiian tree whose wood goes into ukuleles.

Riley

”Valiant” or ”rye clearing.”

Kindness

Merci

Merci is a gender-neutral name of French origin and is meaning a sense of benevolence, kindness, grace, or compassion.

Clement

Clement is the English form of Clementius (Clemens). Clement has a meaning that I love, merciful or gentle. Clement of Rome is the first of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church.

Hanan

”Gracious” in Hebrew, ”tenderness” in Arabic. Men use it in Israel, women in Arab countries.

Yu

From 優, gentle.

Benevolent

Naeem

Naeem has Arabic origins and means blessing, benevolent, easy, contentment, comfort, or happiness.

Kripa

”Grace, mercy,” as well as a teacher of Kuru princes in the Mahabharata.

Ellis

Ellis also means benevolent and kind in Welsh. It is also rooted in the Hebrew Eliyahu which is symbolizing “my God is Yahweh.”

Ren

Benevolence, written 仁.

Friend

Edwin

Friend or wealthy. Edwin is from the Old English ēad. Edwin of Northumbria was the king of Northumbria.

Alvin

Alvin comes from the Old English lfwine, ”elf friend” or ”noble friend.” It is a variation of Elvin, which is popular among Bosniaks.

Amity

Amity has its origins in the Latin word amicus, ”friend.”

Tomo

Friend.

Winfred

”Friend of peace.”

Bellamy

Bellamy is interpreted as “good friend” or “beautiful friend.” It is from Latin bellus (beautiful, fine) and amicus (”friend”).

Rafiki

Rafiki (”friend” in Swahili) is a wise mandrill in The Lion King.

Mitra

From Sanskrit, ”friend,” ”ally,” ”contract” and ”sun.”

Ruth

Compassionate friend. In Christianity Ruth is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Ruth.

Mellon

Mellon has a cinematic meaning for Lord of the Rings fans. It is the Elvish word for “friend” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.

Dakota

”Friendly one” or ”ally,” and two US states.

Green

Emerald

Emerald comes from the Greek smaragdos, “green gemstone” or “green gem.”

Verdant

Verdant comes from Latin ‘viridis’, ‘green.’ Claudie Verdant performed in the French drama show Monsieur le ministre.

Verde

Green in Spanish and Portuguese.

Chloe

=”Young green shoot.” The French spelling is Chloé.

Oran

Oran has its origins in the Gaelic Odhrán and means ”little pale green one.”

Celadon

Pale green, after a shepherd in L’Astrée, a French novel.

Jade

From Spanish piedra de ijada, ”stone of the flank”.

Teal

A small duck whose green eye stripe named a color.

Aoi

”Blue-green.”

Moon

Luna

It is of Latin origin, “moon.” Luna is mostly a feminine name, but I had to put it on this list. Luna Lovegood is a character in the Harry Potter series.

Jacy

It has origins in Tupi, moon.

Hilal

”Crescent,” as in al-Hilal al-Ahmar, the Arabic name of the Red Crescent.

Selene

Another feminine name (I know, not gender neutral) that translates as moon is Selene.

READ MORE: 34 Most Common Dutch Last Names

Lunar

“Of or relating to the moon.”

Halo

Halo comes from the Greek halos, “disc of the sun or moon.”

Jericho

In Arabic Jericho translates to ”city of the moon.”

Shashi

From Sanskrit śaśin, ”having a hare,” an Indian name for the moon.

Yue

Moon, in Chinese.

Marama

”Moon” and ”light,” in Māori.

Qamar

”Moon”.

Chandra

”Shining,” and India names its moon probes Chandrayaan.

Angel

Angelou

Angelou is from the Latin word angelus, ”messenger” or ”angelic being.”

Malak

From the Aramaic מלאך, Malak means angel.

Erel

With Hebrew origins, Erel is meaning ”angel” or ”valiant one.”

Angelo

Angel in Italian.

Celestine

Heavenly, and a pope who resigned after five months.

Tenshi

Angel, in Japanese.

Seraph

”Burning one.” Isaiah describes seraphim with six wings.

Blood

Sânge

In Romanian Sânge means blood.

Rakta

Blood or red in Sanskrit.

Crimson

From Arabic qirmiz, an insect used for red dye.

Koko

Koko is Hawaiian for blood. I love how soft it sounds.

Ichor

Golden blood of Greek gods.

Cat

Lynx

Lynx is from Latin and means ”wild cat.”

Micio

From Italian, Micio is symbolizing kitten.

Gato

”Cat,” and is linked with the Latin word “gattus.”

Mâță

Mâță means ”cat” in Romanian.

Manx

”Of the Isle of Man,” home of a tailless cat.

Felis

From Latin felis, cat.

Neko

”Cat.” A waving lucky cat is a maneki-neko.

Paka

Cat, in Swahili.

Mau

”Cat” in ancient Egyptian, and a spotted breed from Egypt.

Love

Ai

Love, written 愛.

Agape

Selfless love, and an early Christian shared meal.

Valentine

Valentine (”strong, healthy”) is a saint whose day belongs to lovers.

Amor

Love, and another name for Cupid.

Change

Cambio

Cambio is from the Italian and Spanish word “cambio”, ”shift” or ”change.”

Allagi

”Transition” or ”change” in Greek.

Parivarta

Parivarta is from Sanskrit. It is another name for Kurma, the 2nd avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu.

Henka

In Japanese Henka is symbolizing ”transformation” or ”change.”

Phoenix

Dark red, and a bird reborn from its ashes.

Fire

Ember

A glowing coal.

Blaze

From Old English blæse, ”torch.”

Azar

”Fire,” and the ninth month of the Persian calendar.

Ignis

Fire, in Latin, and the root of ignite.

Peace

Salem

Salem is from the Hebrew shalom and the Arabic salaam and both mean peace.

Ping

”Level,” ”flat,” ”calm” and ”peaceful.”

Maluhia

From Hawaiian, peace and quiet.

Paz

In 1990 Mexican poet Octavio Paz received the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is the Spanish word for peace via the Latin pax.

Aman

In Arabic and Persian, Aman means ”peace” or safety.”

Mir

”Peace” and ”world” in Russian, and a Soviet space station.

An

Peace.

Dove

Peace, since a dove came back to Noah with an olive leaf.

Sky

Haneul

”Sky” and ”heaven,” in Korean.

Sora

Sky.

Skye

”Sky,” after the Scottish Isle of Skye.

Tian

Heaven.

Light

Noor

Noor is the Arabic word for light. Spelling variations include Noor or Nur.

Lior

Lior is made of the Hebrew elements li (”to me”) and or (”light”). Israelis used it for sons and daughters.

Sol

”Sun” in Spanish and Latin.

Ray

”Beam of light” in English. It is also a short form of Raymond.

Hoshi

Hoshi is the Japanese word for star 星. It is pronounced as HOH-shee.

Hikaru

Hikaru (”to shine”) Genji is the prince of The Tale of Genji.

Kiran

Ray of light.

Xing

From 星, star.

Lumen

Light, in Latin.

Akira

Bright.

Zohar

Radiance, and the founding book of Kabbalah.

Jyoti

”Flame.”

Vega

”Swooping eagle” in Arabic, ”meadow” in Spanish.

Hoku

”Star,” and Hōkūleʻa, a canoe that sails by stars, is ”star of gladness.”

Sea and Water

Kai

Sea in Hawaiian and a short form of Nikolaus in Frisian.

Morgan

”Sea-born” or ”sea-circle.”

Rio

Rio is the Spanish and Portuguese word for river.

Avon

From Welsh afon, river. Shakespeare is the Bard of Avon.

Shannon

”Ancient one,” and Ireland’s longest river.

Moana

”Ocean”, in Māori and Hawaiian.

Jordan

”To flow down,” and a river where Jesus was baptized.

Nalu

Wave.

Deniz

Sea, in Turkish.

Joy

Gili

”My joy.”

Hilary

”Glad,” and Oxford’s term between Christmas and Easter.

Ayo

Joy, in Yoruba.

Wynn

From wynn, ”joy,” a letter in the Old English alphabet.

Tate

It has origins in Old Norse teitr, cheerful.

Bliss

Happiness.

Ananda

”Joy,” and the Buddha’s cousin and closest attendant.

Wisdom

Sage

”Wise,” and has Old French and Latin roots.

Quinn

Quinn is a diminutive of the Irish O Cuinn, what is linked with Conn, a word for ”sense” or ”wisdom.”

Akili

Akili has Swahili roots, with a meaning that I love: ”intelligence.”

Dana

”Wise,” in Persian.

Zhi

Wisdom.

Bodhi

From Sanskrit, ”awakening.”

Hope and Faith

Amal

”Hope,” and a UAE probe orbiting Mars.

Nozomi

”Wish,” ”hope,” ”desire” and ”expectation.”

Tumaini

Hope.

Imani

Imani (”faith”) is the seventh principle of Kwanzaa.

Gift

Neo

”Gift” in the Tswana language of southern Africa and new in Greek.

Doron

Doron is a Hebrew and Greek word for ”gift.”

Zawadi

It comes from Swahili, ”a present.”

Makana

”Gift” or ”reward.”

Shai

Gift.

Mpho

Gift, in Sotho and Tswana.

Lion

Ariel

Ariel comes from the Hebrew ari (”lion”) and el (”God”). Shakespeare used it in The Tempest.

Free

Charlie

Charlie is a variant of Charles and Charlotte (”free man”).

Frankie

Frankie has roots in the Germanic Frank, ”free one.”

Liberty

Freedom.

Dror

”Freedom” and ”sparrow,” in Hebrew.

Uhuru

”Freedom,” and the summit of Kilimanjaro.