Last updated: March 2026

Character Name

Travis

Meaning — From the English surname Travis, derived from the Anglo-French travers meaning "crossroads, crossing place", from the Old French traverser meaning "to cross". Traverser derives from the Latin transversus (turned across), from trans (across) and vertere (to turn). Travis thus means "one who lives or works at a crossing" — a ferryman or toll-keeper at a river ford or road junction.·Latin origin·Male·TRAV-is

Travis Travis carries the Latin crossroads in its etymology — the man who lives at the intersection, who mediates between routes and destinations, who has seen everyone who passes. Schrader's Travis Bickle gave the name its defining modern literary shadow: the observer who absorbs the traffic of a city until his interior life becomes indistinguishable from the urban disorder around him. A character named Travis tends to be defined by what they witness and absorb rather than what they actively initiate, a man of the threshold.

Best genres for Travis

Literary FictionHistorical FictionAdventureRomance

Famous characters named Travis

Travis Bickle

Taxi Driver Paul Schrader

The insomniac, alienated Vietnam veteran whose taxi rounds through a nightmarish New York City lead him to vigilante violence, one of American cinema's most disturbing portraits of urban anomie.


Variations & nicknames

TravisTraversTrevis

Pairs well with

Travis CraneTravis MercerTravis AshfordTravis WhitmoreTravis LangfordTravis Voss

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More Latin names

Joelle

The French feminine form of Joel, from the Hebrew Yo'el meaning "God is God" or "Yahweh is God", composed of Yahweh (the divine name) and El (God). The name appears in the Old Testament as the prophet Joel, whose book contains one of the most vivid apocalyptic visions in Hebrew scripture. Joëlle is the standard French feminine form.

Sydney

From the English surname Sidney, possibly derived from the Old English sidan meaning "wide, broad" and eg meaning "island" — "wide island" or "broad meadow by the water". Alternatively it may derive from the Norman place name Saint-Denis (from the French form of Dionysius). The surname Sidney became a given name partly through the prestige of the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney.

Tazio

The Italian form of Tatius, the name of the Sabine king Titus Tatius, who according to Roman legend co-ruled Rome with Romulus after the settlement following the Rape of the Sabine Women. The name is of Sabine origin, possibly related to the Latin tata meaning "father" as a term of affection. It is rare outside Italy.

Dolores

From the Spanish Maria de los Dolores meaning "Mary of Sorrows", referring to the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary in Catholic tradition. The Latin dolor means "pain, grief, sorrow". The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (La Dolorosa) is celebrated on September 15, and the name has been particularly common in Spain and Latin America as an expression of Marian devotion.

Skylar

A variant spelling of Schuyler, from the Dutch surname Schuyler derived from the Dutch schuler meaning "scholar" or possibly from schull meaning "shelter, hide". The Dutch surname Schuyler was brought to America by Dutch settlers in New York and became a given name in American usage; the phonetic spelling Skylar emerged in the late twentieth century.

Christian

From the Latin Christianus, meaning "follower of Christ" or "one who belongs to Christ," derived from the Greek Christos ("anointed one"), which is itself a translation of the Hebrew Mashiach (Messiah). It began as a descriptive title for early Christians and gradually became a personal name throughout medieval Europe, used for both men and women.


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