Names That Mean Hope
Parents often reach for a name that means hope after a long wait, a hard season or simply out of optimism about the life ahead. The idea translates everywhere: Spanish Esperanza, Russian Nadezhda, Greek Elpida, Arabic Amal, Persian Omid, Sanskrit Asha, Japanese Nozomi and Zulu Themba all mean the same thing.
Below are more than 90 names built on words for hope, plus a section of names meaning wish, longing or promise. For a baby who arrived against the odds, see also our names that mean miracle and names that mean gift, or browse all name meanings.
English, Romance, Greek and Hebrew names that mean hope
Hope itself was first used as a given name by 17th-century English Puritans, who also created the rarer Hopestill. The Romance languages all built their hope names from Latin sperare, “to hope.”
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Hope | English virtue name | Girl |
| Hopestill | Puritan virtue name, “still hoping” | Unisex |
| Esperanza | Spanish, “hope” | Girl |
| Esperança | Portuguese and Catalan, “hope” | Girl |
| Espérance | French, “hope” | Girl |
| Espoir | French, “hope”; common in Francophone Africa | Boy |
| Speranza | Italian, “hope” | Girl |
| Sperata | Latin, “hoped for” | Girl |
| Elpida | Greek, “hope” | Girl |
| Elpis | Greek personification of hope | Girl |
| Elpidio | Spanish and Italian, from Greek elpis, “hope” | Boy |
| Elpiniki | Greek, “hope of victory” | Girl |
| Tikva | Hebrew, “hope” | Girl |
Slavic, Baltic, Nordic and Albanian names meaning hope
Nadezhda (literally “hope”) is one of the classic Russian virtue names, alongside Vera (faith) and Lyubov (love). Its short forms have traveled across Europe. More in our Russian girl names.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Nadezhda | Russian and Bulgarian, “hope” | Girl |
| Nadia | Short form of Nadezhda, “hope” | Girl |
| Nadya | Russian short form of Nadezhda | Girl |
| Nadiya | Ukrainian, “hope” | Girl |
| Nadzeya | Belarusian, “hope” | Girl |
| Nadine | French form of Nadia | Girl |
| Nada | Serbian, Croatian and Slovene, “hope” | Girl |
| Nadica | Croatian and Macedonian diminutive of Nada | Girl |
| Viltė | Lithuanian, “hope” | Girl |
| Von | Icelandic, “hope” | Girl |
| Toivo | Finnish, “hope” | Boy |
| Lootus | Estonian, “hope” | Girl |
| Shpresa | Albanian, “hope” | Girl |
Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Kurdish names that mean hope
Amal (Arabic) and Omid (Persian) are among the most loved hope names in the Muslim world. See our Arabic girl names and Persian boy names for more.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Amal | Arabic, “hope” | Girl (unisex in some regions) |
| Aamal | Arabic, “hopes” | Girl |
| Rajaa | Arabic, “hope” | Girl |
| Muammal | Arabic, “hoped for” | Boy |
| Emel | Turkish, from Arabic amal, “hope, aspiration” | Girl |
| Omid | Persian, “hope” | Boy |
| Umid | Uzbek and Tajik form of Omid, “hope” | Boy |
| Umida | Uzbek, “hope” | Girl |
| Ummeed | Urdu, “hope” | Unisex |
| Arman | Persian, “hope, wish, ideal” | Boy |
| Umut | Turkish, “hope” | Unisex |
| Ümit | Turkish, “hope” | Boy |
| Umutcan | Turkish, “hope” + “soul” | Boy |
| Hêvî | Kurdish, “hope” | Girl |
Indian, Japanese and Chinese names meaning hope
In Sanskrit, asha means hope and longing, and it anchors several beautiful compound names. Browse more in our Indian girl names.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Asha | Sanskrit, “hope, wish” | Girl |
| Ashalata | Sanskrit, “vine of hope” | Girl |
| Ashakiran | Hindi, “ray of hope” | Girl |
| Apeksha | Sanskrit, “expectation, hope” | Girl |
| Pratiksha | Sanskrit, “hopeful waiting, expectation” | Girl |
| Nozomi | Japanese 希 or 望, “hope, wish” | Girl |
| Nozomu | Japanese 望, “to hope, to wish” | Boy |
| Kibo | Japanese 希望, “hope” | Unisex |
| Kiko | Can be written 希子, “child of hope” | Girl |
| Kiho | Japanese 希帆, “hope” + “sail” | Girl |
| Xi | Chinese 希, “hope, rare” | Unisex |
African names that mean hope
Many Southern African names come from the Zulu/Xhosa root -themba (hope, trust) and the Sotho-Tswana -tshepa (to trust, to hope). Ethiopian and Eritrean families favor Tesfa, “hope.” Find more in African boy names.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Themba | Zulu and Xhosa, “hope, trust” | Boy |
| Thembi | Zulu, “hope” | Girl |
| Nomathemba | Zulu and Xhosa, “mother of hope” | Girl |
| Sithembile | Zulu, “we have hope, we trust” | Girl |
| Thembinkosi | Zulu, “trust in the Lord” | Boy |
| Lithemba | Xhosa, “hope” | Unisex |
| Tshepo | Sotho and Tswana, “hope, trust” | Boy |
| Tshepang | Sotho and Tswana, “have hope, trust” | Unisex |
| Tsholofelo | Tswana, “hope” | Girl |
| Tumaini | Swahili, “hope” | Unisex |
| Tariro | Shona, “hope” | Girl |
| Ireti | Yoruba, “hope” | Girl |
| Olileanya | Igbo, “hope” | Unisex |
| Tesfaye | Amharic, “my hope” | Boy |
| Tesfa | Amharic and Tigrinya, “hope” | Unisex |
| Tesfahun | Amharic, “be hope” | Boy |
| Tesfalem | Tigrinya and Amharic, “hope of the world” | Boy |
| Tesfamariam | “Hope of Mary” | Boy |
Names that mean wish, longing or promise
Hope is close kin to wishing and promising, and these names carry that forward-looking feeling. Pair them with our names that mean dream for a matching set.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Désirée | French, “desired, longed for” | Girl |
| Desiderio | Spanish and Italian, “longing, desire” | Boy |
| Didier | French, from Latin Desiderius, “longing” | Boy |
| Promise | English word name | Girl |
| Muna | Arabic, “wishes, desires” | Girl |
| Munya | Arabic, “wish, desire” | Girl |
| Umniyah | Arabic, “wish, aspiration” | Girl |
| Amani | Arabic, “wishes, aspirations” (Swahili, “peace”) | Girl |
| Wa’ad | Arabic, “promise” | Girl |
| Arezoo | Persian, “wish, longing” | Girl |
| Arzu | Turkish, “wish, desire” | Girl |
| Dilek | Turkish, “wish” | Girl |
| Tamanna | Urdu and Hindi, “wish, desire” | Girl |
| Akanksha | Sanskrit, “wish, aspiration” | Girl |
| Abhilasha | Sanskrit, “wish, desire” | Girl |
| Ichha | Sanskrit, “wish” | Girl |
| Kamna | Sanskrit, “wish” | Girl |
| Chahat | Hindi, “wish, longing” | Girl |
| Mannat | Punjabi, “a wish, a vow” | Girl |
| Kanae | Japanese 叶, “a wish come true” | Girl |
| Thembisa | Zulu and Xhosa, “promise, hope” | Girl |
| Tshepiso | Sotho and Tswana, “promise” | Unisex |
Choosing a name that means hope
- Consider the story you want to tell. Rainbow babies are often named Hope, Esperanza, Nadia or Amal; a longed-for child might suit Désirée or Sperata.
- Many hope names have friendly short forms: Esperanza becomes Espe or Ranza, Nadezhda becomes Nadia, Tesfaye becomes Tes.
- Hope makes an easy, meaningful middle name that works with almost any first name. See our middle names for girls.
- Check how it reads in other languages: Nada means “hope” in Slavic languages but “nothing” in Spanish.
- Pair a hope name with a sibling name meaning faith or love; our names that mean love is a good start.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good name that means hope?
Hope, Esperanza, Nadia, Elpida and Amal are popular girl names that mean hope; for boys, Omid, Toivo, Elpidio, Themba and Tesfaye are strong choices.
What boy name means hope?
Omid (Persian), Toivo (Finnish), Umut and Ümit (Turkish), Themba (Zulu), Tshepo (Sotho) and Tesfaye (Amharic) all mean hope.
What name means hope in Hebrew?
Tikva (also spelled Tikvah) is the Hebrew word for hope, and it is also the title of Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah.
Does Nadia mean hope?
Yes. Nadia is a short form of the Russian Nadezhda, “hope.” In Arabic, a similar-sounding Nadia means “dewy, tender.”
What is a Japanese name that means hope?
Nozomi (girl) and Nozomu (boy) mean hope or wish, and Kibo is the Japanese word for hope.