Behind the Name
This is my favorite names database; I use it for all my writing. It has fairly sophisticated search options: you can search alphabetically, by country of origin, by meaning, and by name. You can limit results by gender. They offer a very broad range of countries to search through.
There are some other fun features such as random name generators, anagram names, names for twins and thematic names. They list namesakes, name days and lists of most popular names. There is also a name translator which will convert the name of your choice into a number of other languages.
I’d like to point out some bad features but I really am quite fond of this page.The content is helpful, the design is simple but attractive and they update frequently. They even allow user input through their message boards and polls.
Behind the Name has a sister site known as Behind the Surname but while it functions in the same way I find myself less impressed with it. Perhaps I’m just bitter because none of the surnames in my family are in the database. But that’s what the message boards are for, I suppose.
