Last night I was watching a video of Italian singer Andrea Bocelli. One of his guest singers was South African Opera singer Pretty Yende. It got me wondering how Yende's parents knew she wouldn't turn out to be ugly as a half-eaten warthog when they named her? (If you haven't seen her, ugly she ain't!) Or Italians naming their daughters Bella, or Spanish naming their daughters Linda? Are there other languages in which variants of "pretty" of "beautiful" are used as names?
Steve Martin's "El Guapo" doesn't count!

Wishful thinking.

Same reason they name boys Angel, Jesus, or Mohammed. Some even use Buddha as a nickname.

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Naes really do effect how people are considered. How many successful pols are named Percy or Clem or have to contend with nicknames like "Pinhead" or "Tiny"? Its amazing what one letter difference can make. Who would you like to ight with: Tiny or Tony?

Unfortunately I don't know many languages, just Spanish and English. Here is a site about baby names meaning beautiful.