← All heritages

Eastern Europe and the Baltics

Estonian names

16 names used by Estonian families, arranged by the age in which each first appears, oldest first.

AllGirlsBoys

The Early Middle Ages400 to 800

MariaGirlFrom Hebrew Miryam, of uncertain meaning; many explanations ('bitter', 'beloved', an Egyptian root) have been…Early Medieval · peak 1966

The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450

LembitBoyFrom Lembitu, an Estonian elder killed fighting crusaders in 1217 according to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia;…Middle Ages

The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837

KristjanBoyFrom Latin Christianus 'follower of Christ'.Revolutions

Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914

JaanBoyThe Estonian form of John, from Hebrew Yohanan 'God is gracious'.Victorian

KadriGirlAn Estonian form of Katarina; the origin of Greek Aikaterine is unknown.Victorian

MartBoyAn Estonian form of Martin, from Latin Martinus 'of Mars'.Victorian · peak 1880

ReetGirlAn Estonian short form of Margareta, from Greek margarites 'pearl'.Victorian · forgotten

TiiuGirlAn Estonian folk name, usually taken as a short form of Dorothea, though this is not certain.Victorian · forgotten

TõnuBoyAn Estonian form of Anthony, from the Roman family name Antonius, of unknown meaning.Victorian

The Modern Age1880 to today

AnuGirlAn Estonian and Finnish short form of Anna, from Hebrew Hannah 'grace, favour'.Modern

IlmarBoyFrom the Finnic smith-hero Ilmarinen, based on ilm 'air, weather'.Modern

KajaGirlUncertain: Estonian kaja means 'echo', but the name may also be the Scandinavian short form of Katarina.Modern

KalevBoyName of the mythical giant Kalev, father of the hero of the Estonian epic Kalevipoeg; its meaning is uncertain.Modern

LiisGirlAn Estonian short form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva.Modern

SulevBoyName of a hero in the Estonian epic Kalevipoeg; its meaning is uncertain.Modern

VambolaBoyName of the hero of Andres Saal's historical novel Vambola (1889) about the 13th-century crusades; its meaning is…Modern · forgotten

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.