Baby Names Meaning Strength — with Origins

No meaning shows up in more languages, in more different shapes, than strength. Greek gives it through Alexander and Alexandra — literally "defender of the people" — a name so durable it independently produced Alessandro in Italian, Alexandru in Romanian, Alexei in Russian and Alistair in Scottish Gaelic, all from the same root, all still near the top of the charts somewhere in the world today. Sanskrit reaches the same meaning from a different angle, through Aadhya (the first power, one of Durga's names) and Abhir (fearless), tying strength to the fierce, protective side of the divine rather than to physical combat.

Latin and Spanish naming often personifies strength through Hercules himself: Alcides was Hercules' own birth name before his labours earned him the more famous one, and Abelardo (noble and strong) carries the same weight through a gentler compound. Japanese names take a quieter route to the same idea — Akira's "graceful strength" pairs the quality with elegance rather than force, a combination that shows up nowhere else on this list and says something about how differently cultures picture what a strong child should grow into.

Below are the names in our catalogue whose meaning includes strength, courage, bravery or a defender, across every origin, most common first.