List as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of List

What is the meaning of the name List ?

The baby name List is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /lɪst/ (LIST).

List is English, Germanic in Origin.

List is a rare modern given name drawn from a surname found across English, German, and Scandinavian languages. In English records, List derives from Middle English list ‘border, selvage,’ denoting someone who made or sold woven edges or lived by a boundary; it also aligns with Old English lyst ‘desire, inclination,’ giving a faint nuance of willfulness. In German and Swedish, List means ‘cunning, stratagem’ and could have served as a nickname for a clever person. The surname also appears habitationally, as in List on the island of Sylt.

Used as a first name only sporadically since the 19th century, List fits the modern surname-name trend and skews unisex. Meanings offered for baby-name use include cleverness, resourcefulness, and boundary-keeper. Variants and related forms include Lyst (archaic/Scandinavian spelling), Liston and Lister (extended English surnames); Liszt is a look-alike Central European surname of different origin.

⚙ List is a rare find. Our records hold just 76 recorded uses, spread over 30 countries.